


The Stakeout

by Scribe32oz



Series: Scribe's ATF Series [3]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 09:39:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12861834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe32oz/pseuds/Scribe32oz
Summary: A routine stakeout goes wrong when Ezra Standish runs into cat burglar and discovers that she has a familiar face….





	1. Tiger By the Tail

 

The assignment had been simple enough when Chris Larabee had announced to Team 7 what was going to take place tonight. A number of sources had indicated that something was going down at the Beaumont Gallery that involved a new player in town who was equipped with hardware that was imported illegally from out of town. Normally, it would be an FBI matter or a customs job but the nature of the imports was artillery and that  _did_  make it a matter for the ATF. Unfortunately, other than the location and a time, there were no other details and each member of Team 7 felt like they were going in blind.

They could have let this one slip by but Chris was eager nip this in the situation in the bud before the following Monday when Team 7 would have the company of a journalist who would be observing them for an entire week for an article she was writing. Although she claimed that she was not writing an expose on the workings of the ATF, no one including Chris, despite how obvious it was he was attracted to the stunning blond, was willing to let anyone had that much free rein over their operations. Therefore, treading against the side of caution, it was agreed that the team would move in now despite the lack of information.

Chris had implemented a full team alert, with all seven being present, armed to the hilt and staking out every exit point out of the gallery perimeter while Chris himself was hiding in the shadows in the entryway of a building across the street. The man was almost unrecognisable as he was garbed in the shabby clothing of a street vagrant and looked the part as he was huddled on the floor, reeking of alcohol and turning the stomach of anyone who happened past.

"I must commend Mr Larabee," Ezra Standish found himself commenting as he observed the Team leader from behind the windscreen of Vin Tanner’s Cherokee Jeep.

"Why is that?" Vin drawled, feeling as bored as Ezra felt at this moment and could not blame the man for shifting in his seat continuously throughout the length of the stakeout. Whatever was meant to happen had not taken place and was starting to look increasingly like it would not. He supposed there were always days like this when rumour and leads did not lead to the conclusion they were meant to.

"He really does make an excellent performance as a vagrant." Ezra retorted, wishing to be anywhere but here at this time. It was Friday night and there had to be a thousand things he could be doing than being stuck here, waiting for an increasingly non-existent criminal to appear.

"I’ll be sure and tell him." Vin smiled faintly and had to agree with Ezra on that point when suddenly the shrill sound of a cell phone sounded in the car. Vin glanced at Ezra since the sound appeared to be coming from inside Ezra’s perfectly tailored suit. The sharpshooter how the man could be so inappropriately dressed for occasions like this.

"Hello," Ezra spoke into the phone once he had retrieved it from inside the folds of his coat. He listened for a moment and then replied. "No, we have not sighted the felon at this time. Are you boys having any better luck?"

Ezra shook his head and indicated to Vin that nothing had changed since the last time Buck Wilmington had checked in with them. "What is our fearless leader’s thoughts on the subject?" He listened carefully to the answer and then answered finally. "One hour then." He agreed and then terminated the call before looking at Vin again.

"As you might have guessed, that was Mr Wilmington," Ezra informed Vin smoothly. "It appears that the evening is not going to come to fruition. Mr Larabee suggests that we give it another hour and then we are to depart. Thank god."

"Good," Vin said with a smile glancing at his watch. It was just early enough for him to pay a call on Alex who knew that he was working tonight and would be on the late shift at the hospital herself. If he left here in an hour, he would be in time to meet her when she came off duty.

"I suppose you will be rushing off to see Alexandra." Ezra teased slightly, knowing that it irked the sharpshooter to no end to be taunted about the young woman when it was obvious how deeply he felt for her.

"Something like that." Vin shrugged uncomfortably, not really wishing to talk about Alex because it still embarrassed him after how strenuously he had denied to everyone how he felt nothing for her.

"She must be worth it," Ezra added. "After all, you did shoot me to acquire her."

"It was an accident!" Vin reacted immediately. "My gun went off."

Ezra chuckled and Vin shoved him, not all impressed by the joke although, after a moment, he found himself laughing with the gambler. "Any luck with your mystery woman?"

Ezra stopped laughing and frowned. "Not at all." He grumbled.

Just about everyone in Team 7 knew that Ezra had been searching for the woman who had purchased him at the auction and then mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Ever since that day, Ezra had been trying everything he could think of to deduce her identity but the lady whoever she was, had more skill hiding than Ezra ever possessed to find her.

"But its just a matter of time," Ezra retorted. "She’ll turn up. I know it."

* * *

High above the building Chris Larabee had chosen as the venue for his performance as a vagrant, the woman stepped out of the shadows took a view of everything transpiring in the street below. She had seen the cars and knew that the stakeout in progress could not possibly be for the gallery. Something else was taking place here tonight and it might work to her advantage if she was to get into the building quietly. In any case, there was no question that the job had to be done tonight. Tomorrow, the Monet would be moved to another city and that would require the redrafting of an entirely new plan and wasted outlay in preparation for this one.

Reservations aside and she always had them, she knew that even in a worst-case scenario, that is setting off the alarm system; she could escape without any difficulty. The risks were worth the painting and the challenge was even more priceless. Delaying and longer, she stepped out of the shadows and slowly made her way to the edge as she glanced at the watch on her wrist and set the timer to begin its countdown. She had twenty minutes to get it done and get out of the building. Anything more than that was just plain sloppy.

She stepped onto the stone palisade and reached for the handle of the pulley that would take her across the building she was on, to the gallery that was on the opposite side of the street. Earlier that evening, she had tethered the line that was linked to a small stake firmly embedded in concrete and fired its end at the gallery rooftop, where a grappling hook would latch on to the first available ledge it came across. The line had a tensile strength capable of withstanding half a ton of pull and was thin enough to be mistaken for electrical wire by anyone who saw it.

Clad from head to toe in black, she placed her gloved hands on the hand grips of the pulley slide on and stepped off the ledge, feeling a sudden whoosh under her as her weight propelled her forward on the small measure of slack provided by the line. She glanced down at the street below as she slid towards her destination and made a note not to let go. There was nothing worse than death by falling into the middle of a police bust, the humiliation alone would kill her if not the fall.

She reached the other building when she saw a wall coming at her and pulled her legs up to stop herself when she reached it. Her feet impacted softly against the concrete surface and allowed her suitable grip to climb over the ledge onto the roof of the building. Like the one she had been on earlier, the roof was empty and quiet. A few birds resting on the ledge had taken flight at her arrival and she bid them farewell with little more than a glance in their direction as they disappeared into the bright, New Mexico

She ran softly across the rough bitumen paved ground, her eyes scanning the area for anything that might be perceived as a danger to her and the job she had to do. As expected, the night ensured her anonymity as she moved across the roof, appearing like a shadow in her black jumpsuit and soft soled boots. She carried a knapsack across her back, which contained the few tools she might need this evening.

The door to the inside of the building was locked but she had anticipated that. The mechanism was expensive and state of the art. Obviously, the gallery was not averse to spending good money on security. She studied the device for a few seconds, having never seen one of these devices before this occasion, although she was aware of its existence even before she had stepped onto the roof. She had pulled up all the construction plans and blueprints on the building prior to this day, not to mention having dinner with a rather naive programmer who worked at the same company providing the gallery’s security. A quick whisper in his ear and a promise of incredible sex if he would just show her what he did and he was willing to show her around the company headquarters and drunk enough to be unaware that she had downloaded all information on the gallery’s security system. Within twenty-four hours, she had devised a way around all the gallery’s security measures.

Reaching into her backpack, she found the tools she had brought with her to disable the system. It took her no more than a few minutes to bypass the mechanisms trigger device before moving into the innards where more delicate work was required. Finally, the system yielded in defeat as she heard a slight click that indicated that the locking mechanism had opened for her. Replacing her tools back into her bag, she reached for the door handle and twisted gently, poised for trouble if her tampering had failed.

Nothing happened and the door came open in her hand without any further difficulty. She slipped into the darkness of the steps that led downwards into the top floor of the building. The corridor was dark and she did not wish to risk alerting anyone to her presence so she slipped a pair of night-vision goggles over her eyes before continuing any further. Immediately, the lenses turned everything before her a shade of green and allowed her full perception of every obstacle before her.

There were security guards around the place but she expected that. There were bargain basement cops who relied mostly on the technology to do their work rather than actual physical competence. As she made her way to where the Monet was kept, she sidestepped them and slipped through their supposedly net of awareness without even being the least suspicious she was there. However, she was not stupid enough to get cocky. Aware before she had even entered the premises where all the hidden surprises were nestled, she took the stairs to the seventh floor where the Monet was being kept and was barely breaking a sweat by the time she reached the room in question.

Now it got interesting. The Monet was kept in a room with motion tracking devices, infrared and sonic detectors. She was surprised by now of it and prepared for all of it, having invested a considerable amount of personal capital to acquire the technology that would see to it that she could safely pass the obstacles to her prize. Pausing as she reached the doorway of the room, she reached into her backpack and removed the sonic emitter she had purchased in Germany and had shipped here under the tightest veil of secrecy. Flicking the switch on the device, the emission it sounded was not audible to human ears although anything canine would be losing its mind if it were anywhere within five hundred yards of the building. However, it would also disable the sonic detectors surrounding the Monet and allow her to pass through that particular safeguard without setting off its alarms.

With that task completed, she stepped onto the floor of the room. The Monet was at the end of the room, handing languidly on the wall, with almost supreme confidence that no one could breach its velvet ropes to spirit it away. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at her watch and knew she had no time to waste. She had to get moving. There was only one way to circumvent the motion detectors in the room and that was to move through the room four inches at a time, anything faster and the alarms would bring the entire security company down around her ears.

Time for some art appreciation.

* * *

Dogs were barking.

Ezra looked at the animals at a nearby alley and saw them howling into the night. As he strained to listen closely because there was nothing else to do, he could not understand the reason for this annoying display. There were not merely barking, they were howling, some even yelping in pain. Even Vin had started to wonder about this.

"Someone is really working overtime with their dog whistle." The sharpshooter commented.

"An extremely powerful whistle." Ezra retorted and could not help but feel as if there was something in that incessant noise that he was missing. Flipping open his cell phone, he pressed redial on the face of the device and waited patiently for an answer.

"Mr Wilmington," Ezra started to say when Buck beat him to it. "Yes, I hear it too. No, Mr Tanner and I have no idea what is going on. What does Mr Larabee say?" Ezra questioned.

Ezra did not have time to hear his answer because Chris Larabee had emerged from the shadows and was motioning them forward. The leader of Team 7 was right in the open and did not appear to care that he might be blowing his cover.

"What’s going on?" Vin leaned forward against his steering wheel trying to discern Chris’ intentions when Ezra finally turned to him, his expression somewhat shocked.

"Ultrasonics." Ezra declared. "Someone is using ultrasonics."

"Hell," Vin swore, starting to climb out of the car at that revelation. "You mean it's going down after all?"

"I do not believe so," Ezra replied doing the same as he rounded the front of the jeep and joined Vin as they made fast tracks towards Chris who was now striding purposefully towards the gallery. "However, I think we might have stumbled onto something entirely different."

* * *

The Monet was only a few feet away.

She could almost touch it. So far everything had gone according to plan and if luck held out she would soon be on her way out of the country for another six months in St Moritz, enjoying a well-deserved vacation. She wondered if anyone had any concept of how difficult it was to move slowly when danger compelled the human animal to be swift. However, she was a professional and she knew the virtue of patience. The bodysuit she was of the same material that deep-sea divers used for their wetsuits. Its ability to trap heat within its fabric had masked the infrared cameras and thus allowed her passage over yet another obstacle.

Three feet.

Two feet.

One foot away and she would be able to reach it with her hands.

Suddenly, she became aware of sounds. Voices that were becoming louder with each passing second. Had she been discovered? Impossible, there was no way she could have been detected. She had taken every precaution, how could that be? Yet despite what logic told her, those voices were becoming louder as were the footsteps that approached in tandem with the sounds of speech. She glanced anxiously at the Monet, trying to make the decision to leave now and get out alive or continue her attempt to steal the painting.

The voices made the decision for her.

"Goddamn it!" She swore angrily and turned on her heels and started running. The moment she did that, alarms began screaming all around her, lights illuminated the floor and were no doubt doing the same all across the gallery. It did not matter any of it.

The only thing of importance now was escape.

* * *

Chris was in the lead, with Ezra and Vin following close behind him. Buck, JD, Josiah and Nathan were covering all the alternate exits. The activation of the alarm system had shut down the elevators and so the only way to the origin of the alert was by the stairs. They hurried up the stairwell, having left the startled security guards who had no idea at all what was happening until Chris dutifully informed them that someone was using some kind of sonic disruption equipment in this building. Considering what was kept in here, it did not take a genius to deduce that a robbery was in progress. While technically, this was not in ATF jurisdiction, Chris could hardly see those Keystone Cops handling the situation with any efficiency.

"They probably going to go out through the roof." Chris barked. "If I’m not wrong the elevators shut down the minute the alarm goes off."

"Hell," Vin snorted, wondering how an intruder could have gotten past them in the first place. They had seen no one approached the building. "Probably how they got in too."

"It appears we have a true professional in our midst," Ezra commented as they burst through the door and immediately saw a slender figure running across the floor away from the painting that was the centrepiece of this particular room.

"Hold it!" Chris who had his gun out swung immediately at the stranger’s direction.

The figure reacted with almost lightning speed, kicking a leg out so fast that the gun flew from his hand before the leader of Team 7 was aware of it. It clattered against the wall as another kick landed firmly in his chest and he staggered backwards, falling into Vin and toppling them both to the floor. Wasting no time, the assailant continued up the stairs.

Ezra leapt over his comrades, not bothering to pause and see if they were all right. Certain that they were because no bullets had been fired and sure they would soon be behind him in pursuit, Ezra hurried up the staircase after the thief. He saw the shadow move up the stairs, leaping over three to four steps at a time, making incredible progress in his ascent. Ezra kept pace well enough though, determine that he was not about to let this person go at any costs, particularly how the intruder had managed to slip past all their surveillance to get inside this building virtually undetected.

"Stop!" Ezra shouted. "Do not make me shoot you!" He called out.

The intruder paid little or no attention to his demands and kept going, picking up the pace if it were possible.

Ezra started firing, sending a barrage of bullets upwards. The sound shattered whatever serenity was left in the staircase and filled the narrow space with the powerful roar of exploding bullets.

* * *

Damn, their response time was fast!

She had no more time to pull out her own gun to fire when the hail of bullets came flying at her. She had to jump to avoid them, landing painfully on the stairs but ignoring it because she had to keep going. The bullets from her pursuer’s gun tore through the wall behind her savagely. Plaster and concrete flew in all directions as she scrambled up the stairs. In the wake of gunfire, she could hear more footsteps coming up the staircase, joining the one who was following her. She turned a corner and saw the door to the roof only a few feet ahead. No sooner than she had cast her eyes on it, another barrage of ammunition followed, sending more fragments of concrete in her direction as she held her head down and tried to avoid being hit.

It suddenly occurred to her that she was not going to escape the roof the way she had planned. Her only choice was to delay the man following her and take her chances during the narrow margin of time between her incapacitating him and when his friends reached the roof.

She had once chance at this and she had no choice but to take it.

* * *

Ezra lost sight of him when the intruder turned the final corner of the staircase. Below him, he could hear Vin and Chris in close pursuit and felt relieved knowing that he had back up. Ezra ascended the final length of stairs and saw the door that emptied out onto the roof. Without thinking twice even though he would kick himself about it later, Ezra went through the door without taking the precaution of looking behind it  _first_.

The leg came out of nowhere and his gun flew out of his hand as easily as it had been taken from Chris. The intruder stepped out and met him face to face. Ezra stared astonished because he recognised the person before him and felt some gratified knowing he was not the only one who was similarly surprised because judging by the redhead’s open-mouthed stare, she had been caught just as unaware as he. It was the woman he had been chasing all week, the one who had bought him in the auction and then disappeared without a trace!

Unfortunately, she recovered faster than he did and swung hard with her fist. The blow almost knocked him off his feet but he managed to stay standing. Unfortunately, the leg sweep she used to kick his legs from under him finished the job. Ezra collapsed to the ground in an uncomfortable heap. However, instead of turning to run, she dropped her knee on his chest while he was on the floor and pulled him up partially. He groaned as he felt the pressure against his chest and looked up to find himself staring at those incredible emerald coloured eyes once again.

"Oh you just keep popping up in the strangest places don’t you Mr Standish." She smiled faintly; silken lips just as perfect as he had imagined.

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," he grunted.

"Get used to it." She said tautly and then offered him a faint smile before pressing her mouth against him in a kiss of searing passion. He felt her tongue slip past his lips, probing the roof of his mouth, devouring him until all he could feel was the bolt of electricity she had sent through his body. He barely noticed when she had released him.

"Ezra, are you okay?" Vin Tanner shouted as he and Chris burst through the door after him. By now, she had left Ezra and was nearing the edge of the roof.

"Freeze!" Chris warned again, this time aiming his automatic weapon at her and not intending to miss. "Move and we’ll fire."

She stood at the edge of the stone edging and seemed to consider her options. She could not be arrested, under any circumstances. Taking a deep breath, she met his gaze and replied with a smile. "I guess you’ll just have to fire."

With that, she stepped off the edge into the night.

"Shit!" Chris swore as he ran to the ledge, with Vin and Ezra following closely behind him.

Instead of expecting to see a dead body at the foot of the building next to the sidewalk, they saw a very live one, making good time as she proceeded to a motorcycle that was parked on the other side of the street. The fall should have killed her but fortunately, the windows below the ledge she had jumped came equipped with awnings. Each one of the bright orange awnings was torn through the middle, halting her speedy descent with each impact. By the time she had broken through to the last awning, there was not even enough velocity to break the plastic.

"I don’t fucking believe it!" Chris swore as they watched helplessly as she climbed onto the vehicle and revved the engines. As it roared to life, she directed the cycle to pass directly under them as she made good her escape.

The last thing they saw was her smiling face as she waved goodbye and disappeared into the night.

"Who was that?" Vin asked no one in particular. "Catwoman?"

"You okay Ezra?" Chris asked, taking note of the gambler’s stunned expression and immediately felt concern about his welfare.

"I am fine," Ezra said still staring into the darkness where she had gone. "I think I need to sit down for a while, I am sure you can handle things on your own here. If you do not mind Mr Larabee, I need to go home."

"Sure Ezra," Chris said uncertainly, not willing to let him go because he did not seem fine at all but could offer no objection to make him stay. "Take it easy." He called out to the agent as the man departed.

"What’s with him?" Vin asked.

Chris could only shake his head in answer. "I have no idea."

Ezra did not hear their ruminations as he walked through the door that allowed him to leave the roof, thinking to himself that he had this strange feeling that he had suddenly captured a tiger by the tail.

The hell of it was, he did not want to let go.

 


	2. Airport Security

"Explain to me again why again we are doing this?" Vin Tanner inquired as he sat in the front passenger seat of Ezra Standish’s Jaguar.

Both men had spent the better part of the morning keeping the art gallery under surveillance. While normally Vin did not have a problem with indulging Ezra in his pet theories, he felt decidedly uncomfortable about expending any more time in pursuit of a matter Chris had deemed clearly out of their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, Ezra was not about to let it go and against his better judgement; Vin had allowed Ezra to convince him to accompany him on this venture.

"Because you know I am right Mr Tanner," Ezra repeated the same answer he had given Vin twenty minutes ago and an hour before that. Although he had to admit the time was indeed dragging, Ezra was not about to concede defeat, not when he was sure that he was right about this.

"You got a good hunch, Ezra," Vin retorted, staring at the art gallery and wishing he were anywhere else but here at the moment. "But that still don’t mean we ain’t breaking procedure by not turning this over to the FBI boys." He reminded.

  
Ezra stared at him mortified by the entire concept. "Mr Tanner, surely you are not implying that we turn over what would be a most prestigious arrest to those glory hounds at the Bureau?"

Vin gave Ezra a look that oozed of scepticism and sarcasm before responding to his expression of mock horror. "You ain’t doing this because of any arrest Ezra, you’re doing this because of a woman."

Ezra’s jaw dropped open. "Sir, I take umbrage at that remark. I am simply hurt because you would think that I would risk a reprimand from our esteemed leader for the foolhardy pursuit of a lady?" He said full of indignation and hurt that Vin knew to be about as genuine as the story the gambler was attempting to feed him. If it were anyone else, they might believe the performance but for Vin Tanner and the rest of Team 7, they were too accustomed to Ezra’s facades to be taken in. "Well, I am just beyond words."

Considering how many words he had uttered to just get to that statement did not lend well to his credibility as far as Vin was concerned. "Save it, Ezra," Vin rolled his eyes and faced front again. "You ain’t convincing me. You’re doing this for the girl." 

"Fine," Ezra nodded, conceding defeat in this point and then glancing at the tracker with a smug smile on his face. "But let’s not point fingers at which of us is prone to extreme acts to win the affection of a lady."

Vin shot him a murderous glare.

"I told you that was an accident. It…was…a….misfire." His words came out very slowly.

"I am sure it was." Ezra retorted not believing him for once second and making certain that Vin knew it too. "However, lest you want me to go into detail about how my maiming my derriere proved to your advantage, you will not point any more fingers. Besides, you owe me big Mr Tanner."

Vin faced front and swore under his breath because Ezra was right. He  _had_  shot the man in the butt and embarrassing as it was for the both of them, Vin did feel obligated to make amends. However, any more reminders about it from Ezra and he was likely to get another bullet in the butt and this time it would have nothing to do with a woman.

"Fine, whatever." The sharpshooter grumbled, certain that he was going to regret this.

Ezra was still smirking as he cast his gaze on the gallery again, certain that his hunch was right. Last week, the famous Santa Fe gallery was almost burglarized by a very cool and professional cat burglar, the kind one read about in books or those old movies with Cary Grant. Not only had the suspect not been apprehended but also she had single-handedly managed to elude all three ATF agents hot on her trail. Disarming Chris Larabee was nearly impossible and just when they thought that things could not become any unbelievable, she had thrown herself off the building to elude capture, surviving by cushioning her fall through the fabric awnings under each window of the building. The escape was spectacular even though the painting had not been stolen.

Ezra had not told anyone that the woman he had encountered on the rooftop and the one who had bid for him were one and the same. Although Chris would have him skinned alive if he knew, Ezra found compelled to keep her identity a secret for the moment even though revealing that snippet of information would have hardly assisted in her capture anyway. His efforts to trace the lady who had bid for him was just as elusive as their efforts to find some clue about their mysterious cat burglar. When Ezra had searched every US government database in existence for the possible match in the method of operation of this particular burglar, nothing had been registered. In desperation, he had resorted to speaking to a poker acquaintance that knew someone at Interpol and could acquire information unofficially.

While the various law enforcement agencies in the country had proved to be useless in his search, Interpol was another thing entirely. They had a file on a female cat burglar that had been operating in Europe for almost 10 years and had not been sighted on American soil until now even though she was believed to be a native. Beyond that, they had little information on the woman herself but her pattern was clear. She had never been caught and she had a reputation for being absolutely relentless. On the rare occasions that a heist did not go her way, she was known to make a further attempt. In each case, she had stolen everything she set her sights upon. There were no exceptions.

Ezra was certain the woman who attempted to steal the Monet last week and the cat burglar known as ‘La Renarde Rousse’ to Interpol was one and the same. Ezra did not know why he was determined to find her but he knew if she was this ‘La Renarde Rousse’ translated from French into the Crimson Fox then her pattern would indicate that she would come back for the painting. Her Interpol dossier made reference to that as well as the fact that such secondary attempts were usually done swiftly after the initial failure and usually successful.

"If she tries for it, she’s gotta be crazy," Vin commented, having been appraised of this much of Ezra’s theory if not the part about the auction. "It's broad daylight."

"Yes," Ezra agreed. "But the owner is rather eccentric. He insists on taking the painting out of the state on his own and keeping it very close to him."

"That him?" Vin remarked and gestured at a rather short man with dark looks who was carrying the painting in a leather case surrounded by private security as he headed towards a Rolls Royce parked in front of the gallery. In front and behind the prestige automobile, were nondescript cars waiting for him to proceed on his journey and told the two ATF agents that these were apart of his security escort.

"How Marilyn Monroe," Ezra commented making reference to the woman walking next to the owner. She was a leggy blond who was practically spilling out of her low cut dress and was capturing everyone’s attention with her cleavage as she sauntered along. She looked typically vulgar with big red lips that left no imagination as to where her talents lay and remained at his side appearing more like an adornment than a human being. Even her walk on stiletto heels seemed ungainly and lacking grace, serving only to remind Ezra what a lady of class could achieve in the same footwear.

"I suppose some guys like that sort of thing," Vin remarked with a hint of distaste even though Buck would be tripping over his tongue about now.

"Not I." Ezra retorted firmly and the two ATF agents observed quietly for the next few minutes the departure of the Roll Royce with its entourage. When the cars had travelled far enough away, Ezra brought the Jaguar’s engines came to life and followed the convoy discreetly, in its trip to the airport.

"If she’s going to try for it, I’d like to see how." Vin glanced at Ezra, not wishing to come right out and say Ezra was wrong but he certainly believed the gambler’s usually formidable hunches was inaccurate this time. No burglar would be that brazen or foolish to attempt a robbery in daylight with so many security men around the target.

"She going to try for it," Ezra said confidently, uncertain how he knew but was absolute on that fact. "I know she is."

* * *

They followed the painting and its owner all the way to the airport and found that the journey had taken place without incident. Whatever Ezra was expecting to take place had not and Vin held his tongue knowing that this was important to the gambler, if not understanding why that they maintained the surveillance. Still, he did appreciate was to be so completely transfixed by a woman that all good sense could dry up like a well inside a man’s head.

They reached the airport and still, there were no signs of anything amiss. Ezra was starting to feel doubt appear in his mind. Perhaps he had been wrong? Maybe she was not the Fox at all and that he had made a damned fool out of himself in front of Vin even though he knew the sharpshooter would never say a word to anyone else. Vin if anything was good at secrets and keeping confidences. Still, they were at the airport and since they had already stuck their neck out this far in pursuing a case that Chris Larabee had told them in no uncertain terms was not in their purview of influence, Ezra saw no reason to disengage the surveillance now.

"We might as well follow this unfortunate situation through," he said trying to hide his disappointment. "I apologise for leading you on a wild goose chase Mr Tanner."

"Don’t worry about it Ezra," Vin patted his back as they both emerged from the Jaguar and made their way to the terminal. The painting was still in their scope of vision because they were professionals and were much better about keeping a low profile than the rent-a-cops the owner had hired for himself. "I would have thought she might turn up too with what we know about her." He said sympathetically.

"Thank you, Mr Tanner," Ezra replied, genuinely touched as the two men crossed the street and entered the glass doors of the airport terminal.

The owner of the Monet was standing just before the check-in counter while his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. For a few moments, the ATF agents lingered about uncomfortably, wondering what the group was waiting for and hoping that they had not been spotted by the man’s security. Chris would give them all kinds of hell if he knew they were here right now and after his lack of success, Ezra was not in the mood to endure Chris Larabee’s stern reprimands. Fortunately, no such calamity took place as the girlfriend made her emergence from the ladies room and both agents let out a sigh of relief when they realised that had been the reason for the sudden pause.

From the minute she stepped out of the ladies room, Ezra knew something was wrong. For a moment, he could not imagine what it was. He stared at the blond as she walked towards her lover, hips moving sensuously, legs striding forward with complete grace and eye-catching poise while her modesty was concealed in a tight-fitting leather skirt. It was almost poetry in motion if a leggy blond could ever be described that way. Ezra was somewhat surprised, considering he had not thought much of the woman when he had first laid eyes on her at the gallery. Back there, her mobility had been uninspired and she looked like any blond with a rich boyfriend. However, now she was something beautiful and heart-stopping, Ezra could not imagine what had caused the change until suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Vin!" Ezra called out bolting forward. "It's her!"

"What?" Vin called after Ezra as the gambler was already running. "What do you mean it's her?"

"A switch!" Ezra returned as he pulled out his gun from inside the folds of his jacket. "She pulled a switch in the ladies room!"

The commotion attracted the attention of the security guards who immediately sprang into action. Ezra was ready for them, brandishing his badge for them to see as they converged upon him. "ATF! That woman is a suspect! She’s the one who tried to steal the painting last week."

Immediately, all eyes turned to her direction only to find that she had kicked off her heels and was running through the terminal, putting as much distance between herself and the men who would soon be in pursuit. No one attempted to interfere with Ezra following her flight and the gambler found himself running after the lady faster than he had ever run before. People immediately moved out of the way, knowing some kind of arrest was transpiring and not wishing to become caught in its crossfire.

The Fox leapt onto a turnstile that was ejecting baggage and moved across the obstacles with surprising ease, marvelling Ezra with her agility as she leapt up the conveyor belt and finally disappeared through the opening. Vin was a few paces behind him, trying to move through the chaos created in the wake of the chase between Ezra and his cat burglar. While the travellers had stepped out of Ezra’s way, they only succeeded in hampering the efforts of Vin and the security guards who were a short distance behind him.

Ezra took the same path she did, clambering up the conveyor belt that led into the baggage area of the airport. No sooner than he had passed through the small opening, he felt a sharp kick land on his side and throw him off the conveyor belt. He fairly spun in the air and flew several feet before impacting against the concrete floor. He landed hard, dropping his gun as he heard the sound of bone snapping upon impact. Ezra let out a cry of pain but somehow managed to get to his feet.

She dropped to the floor directly in front of him while he was searching for his gun. This time, there was none of the surprise that was present at their initial encounter. She was almost caught and she knew it. For her to escape, she had to go through him. With the same astonishing speed, she planted a high kick straight in his sternum and sent him reeling.

Ezra slammed against the wall, groaning in pain as the hard impact aggravated the broken ribs created by her initial kick. He could feel the sharp pain of the injury stabbing at his sides and knew he was not in any shape to fight her. He grunted slightly and tried to retaliate but she had the advantage and intended to use it. Another fist struck his jaw and if he had been standing before, he was not by the time she was done with him. His head spun as he went down hard against the concrete.

"What is it with you?" He heard her voice suddenly ask.

Ezra looked up at her through the haze of pain and saw that she had discarded her blond wig and beneath it was that amazing copper coloured hair. "You are a criminal." He replied as if that ought to answer everything.

"No, that isn’t it." She leaned over him and took his throbbing face in her hand. "You’re taking this awfully personal. If I didn’t know better, I say you were tracking me."

"I have a penchant for red hair." He found himself admitting, uncertain why when she had just effectively kicked his ass. "And you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen."

Her surprised showed and then she smiled at him and Ezra found his insides melt because those incredibly red lips and emerald colour eyes were playing the strings of his heart like a harp. Once again, her mouth lowered to his and when she kissed him, he had never been so aware of anything in his life. It was not a kiss of passion like before but soft and lingering, paralysing his mind with the sheer silken pleasure of her lips against his. Her tongue danced with his for a second that seemed to stretch forever and when she finally pulled away, Ezra was breathless.

"Oh, you are sweet." She sighed looking at him with a bemused smile. "I’d love to finish this with but I’m a little press for time. Just do me a favour," she said planting a softer kiss on his cheek. "Don’t get in my way again, I don’t like hurting you."

With that, she released him and vanished once again.

* * *

Vin found him a few seconds later and did not pursue the suspect when he realised that Ezra was injured and had at least two cracked ribs. While the other security guards continued the search, Vin saw to it that Ezra received medical attention at the local hospital. If Ezra had been disappointed that his quarry had slipped away from him once again, then it was nothing compared to dressing down both he and Vin received when they found themselves in Chris Larabee’s office the next morning.

"What part about not our jurisdiction did you not understand?" Chris glared furiously at the two of them, awaiting an answer even though the leader of Team 7 could guess that none of any satisfactory value was forthcoming.

"It ain’t Ezra’s fault," Vin spoke up, knowing that Ezra was injured enough and did not need to bear the full brunt of Chris’ wrath as well as the pain. "He had a good hunch and I thought it was worth following up."

"Mr Larabee," Ezra quickly interrupted. "I alone induced Mr Tanner to accompany me on this escapade, he had nothing to do with it except to aid me in satisfying my foolish theories."

Chris watched the two of them continue to defend each other for a few more minutes before deciding that he needed a really stiff drink or a gun, whichever came first.

"Shut up!" He immediately put an end top their chattering voices which was giving him a headache. He gazed at Vin and Ezra who reminded him of two little boys with their hands caught well and truly red-handed with nothing to say that could exonerate either. "I don’t care whose fault it is. You are lucky that Mr Costanza, the owner thinks you two single-handedly saved the Monet from being stolen again. His girlfriend was knocked unconscious in the ladies room as you guessed Ezra and the switch must have been made there. Even though they searched the airport and no trace of your suspect was found, he still thinks that you did a great job."

Vin and Ezra exchanged looks of relief when Chris cleared his throat. "I, on the other hand, ain’t apart of this mutual admiration society you’ve both got going so I’ll tell you this only once, you pull this crap again and I’ll see to it you two will be in airport security, permanently. Do I make myself clear?"

Affirmative responses came rather contritely and Chris let out a sigh of resignation. His anger was directed more at the fact that the duo had gone it alone without back up instead of all the violations of jurisdiction he  _was_  still explaining to the bureaucracy. If either man had underestimated the danger of the suspect they had been pursuing, they could have been in a life-threatening situation without anyone to cover their backs. That, in Chris’s opinion, was an unacceptable risk he expected none of his men to take with their lives.

"You’re dismissed." He waved them out of the room.

Both turned to leave when Chris added further. "Oh Ezra, one other thing."

The gambler turned to Chris, wondering what else the man could say to make him feel any worse. "Yes, Mr Larabee?" He asked quietly.

"Next time, wipe the lipstick off your face."

 


	3. Nocturnal Visitor

She could not get him out of her mind.

How is that possible?

There were men before. So many men, some more beautiful, more pliant and certainly less trouble than this one and yet she could not shed him from her mind. He lingered there, like cancer taking root, eating away at her. She paced the floor of the apartment she should have vacated weeks ago, staring at the city below her aware that was no reason to remain. Still, she could not walk onto the plane that would leave him behind forever. Instead she found herself trapped in New Mexico of all places, trapped like fly in amber and slave to an emotion she swore she would never fall victim.

She managed to get her hands on the Monet, having able to fend off that invisible pull that kept her from leaving long enough to steal the painting and satisfy some rather insistent clients of hers from taking further action for her previous failures. Her reputation as the best was still hers to keep but for some reason, being the best was no longer enough. Following the completion of the job, she found herself surrounded by the walls of her plush penthouse apartment, determined that her temporary lease would remain that, temporary and yet she found herself scouring the real estate pages, searching for something she refused to acknowledge she wanted.

She had more than enough money from ten years in the game to last her dozen life times. Her services had never come cheap and the advantage of being the best was to be able to name one’s price. She had done that and more repeatedly and so that numbered Swiss bank account ensured that she would never have to worry about money again. Not like in the early days when she was child struggling to get by on clothes bought from disposal shops. Always working hard for scholarships and awards, working at hamburger joints from the time it was child labour laws allowed until she could no more stomach the smell of burgers as she could the scent of fat cooking under intense heat.

No, money was never going to be a problem.

But she did not do it for the money. She did it for the rush. The sheer joy of leaping of knowing that there was no lock she could not pick, a trap she could not escape. She enjoyed breaking out of cages and proving they were not invulnerable. There was no such thing an unworkable problem, just more challenging ones. Now, she had been here for a matter of weeks and already she was contemplating the idea that perhaps it was time to walk away.

She was at the head of the game and no longer needed to play.

It infuriated her that she could be even considering such a thing! This was her life, what she was born to do. Now thanks to one stupid ATF agent who had this strange propensity to turn up at the most unexpected times, she could barely concentrate on anything! While her nights were usually spent travelling under the rooftops, placing potential marks under observation to study their security measures, should she ever needed to get in, her days were uneventful. She only knew one person in town and her oldest friend was busy at work during the day, having troubles of her own. And what was she doing with her spare time? She was scouring the commercial sector of the newspaper, looking for a business to invest her considerable fortune.

This morning she had gone so far as to visit a small art gallery in the city that was on sale. She walked through the marble halls, listening to the drone of the owner as he informed her that he was quitting the place to take up residence in New York. She even glanced at the books and found that it was doing good business and had a tendency to support local artists, a concept, which appealed to her. The insanity of it all was while she was walking through the corridors of Spanish styled building, she could envision all sort of possibilities in the place.

She stopped pacing and stormed over to the rosewood desk. The papers for the purchase of the gallery lay there, mocking her with its presence. The ink where she had signed her name on the dotted line had sunk into the paper, creating an indelible impression she could not escape. She was now the proud owner of the Calliope Gallery. She owned a business! How could she own a business! She a frigging thief for Christ sake!

This was his fault. He had done this to her. He and that stupid remark of his!

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Who fell for a line like that in this day and age? It was so contrived! Not only contrived, it was pathetic and so typical of southern charm that she should be completely disgusted. Instead she felt her heart leap when he had said because it was the  _most_  sincere compliment anyone had ever given her and she was lost the moment it slipped past those tasty lips of his. When she had kissed him, she felt the sensation down to her toes and it was the most enjoyable kiss she had ever experienced.

  
This could not go on.

He threatened her entire existence by what he was engendering inside of her and she could not have it. Her life was fine as it was, she needed to disruption or alteration, no matter how strongly she felt for Mr Ezra Standish.

**********

Ezra was glad to get home.

After spending the entire day watching to Chris Larabee and Mary Travis doing their best impressions of mating tigers from an episode of Wild Kingdom, he and the rest of the Team 7 were more than relieved when the clock finally struck five. The entire team except for their leader of course, shared a moment of complete solidarity when they all the rushed out the door, no longer wishing to be involved in the carnage that was the fledgling courtship of Chris and Mary. As it was the day had been a fruitless effort of phone calls and paper work, a duty whose tediousness had no words to describe it and had left Ezra daydreaming of more exciting chores, like watching paint dry or grass grow.

To make matters worse, on the way home, the Jaguar had decided to get a flat tire and Ezra who was usually meticulous about such things, realised that he had used his spare during that shoot out a week ago and had forgotten to replace it. After spending an hour on the freeway waiting by the side of the road while Nathan picked up a tire, he had finally made it to his apartment and decided that the safest place for him after a day like this was firmly beneath the covers of his bed.

He was in the process of opening his door, lost in thoughts about an evening listening to Caruso, while partaking in leftovers from the Chinese takeaway he ordered the night before with a nice bottle of wine when two voices greeted him. Upon identifying them, Ezra realised that his estimation of a bad day was going to need serious re-evaluation by the time the night was over. Their voices coincided with the feel of metal pressing up against his spine. Instinctively, Ezra knew it was a gun.

"Hello there country boy." A decidedly Brooklyn Italian accent greeted him. "Long time no see."

Only one person he remembered in recent years had called him that and the realisation of who stood behind him told Ezra he was in a great deal of trouble. Three years ago, he had been involved with an illegal gun running operation, upon which the case evidence dealt entirely with his testimony. The criminal in question had received a ten year sentence which in this day and age amounted to just about nothing since the man was now standing behind him.

"Why Mr Bertenelli, "Ezra said coolly, wearing the perennial poker face as always. "What a pleasant surprise." He could not see the man because his back was still to the door and the gun kept him from turning around but he was certain it was Johnny Bertenelli behind him. Bertenelli had a part of the family in New York until some indiscretion with a godfather’s daughter had him sent to the wilderness of New Mexico. Bertenelli had been attempting to claw his way back into the mainstream with a large weapons shipment when Ezra infiltrated the organisation and brought the whole operation down, permanently ending Bertenelli’s ambitions.

Boy, was he in trouble.

"Not for long," Bertenelli’s voice became menacing and sent a chill through Ezra’s bones as he spoke, his voice sounding like crushed glass. "Not for long."

* * *

She was breaking into his apartment.

She was international cat burglar, who had broken into museums and art galleries with million dollar security systems and a goddamn ATF agent had driven her to break into minimum security building whose idea of security was a tenants’ poodle patrolling the grounds for its evening walk! That was no dignity in this, she told herself as she lowered herself onto his balcony. As the soft soles of her shoes touched the terracotta tiles of the long balcony, which ran around his apartment, Julia had to admit he had something of a view. While the skyline of the city could not be escaped, there were some patches of green and trees that allowed a feeling of serenity.

She had no idea why she was here. When she was driving here in her red Masserati, she had been telling herself that it was a bad idea. However, she could not deny that she felt something for this man and in coming to that admission realised she knew very little about him.

 _Coming in through to window is going to be a great icebreaker_ , she thought to herself.

Dressed in soft black leader, she was a shadowy figure as she moved towards the balcony doors and froze at the noises she was hearing beyond the glass. She had expected him to be at home but alone and wondered if she ought to withdraw and try this some other time when she listened closely to the voices and the hard, abrupt sounds that caused her to identify it immediately.

Knuckles against flesh.

Pressing her face close to the glass, she peered through the slight opening in the curtains to see that he was tied to a chair. His face bruised and bleeding as two men, both armed with 45’s, one tucked away and the other brandished stood over him. The one who was not holding his gun was armed with a cutthroat razor and intended to do some serious damage with the blade. Ezra’s coat and shirt was splayed open and his chest exposed clearly indicating that his death when it came, was going to be slow and painful.

"By the time we’re done with you," the big, heavy set one with the pinkie ring and the expensive yet appalling ugly suit remarked. "You ain’t gonna be so pretty any more."

"Considering you have only yourself to base that comparison," Ezra said with complete dignity, even though blood was oozing from his split lip. "I am not overly concerned." The gambler was determined not to show fear to this fat, stupid slug of a man who reeked of bad odour and was massacring the English language with typical New Yorker arrogance. He knew that Bertenelli was going to kill him and at the moment, could not see any way out of his situation to change that outcome. However, he was sure as hell not going out of this life begging. Bertenelli was going to be robbed of that much at least.

"Always with the mouth." The man retorted, unimpressed by Ezra’s sarcasm and reacted by throwing another jewelled fist at the ATF agent’s face. Behind him his companion laughed, while twirling that damned razor about with every intention of using it on that perfect chest of his, Julia realised.

 _Time to put a stop to this_ , Julia thought with a wry smile on her lips as she prepared to throw herself into a situation she was not certain she would ever walk away from and she  _did not_  mean dealing with Stupid Mario Bros inside the room.

The balcony doors were unlocked. Since his apartment was almost six floors up from the ground, that was hardly surprising. Fortunately, the doors made no sound that was loud enough to attract the attention of the men whose purpose in the room had captured their undivided attention. The big guy was still working Ezra over pretty good and judging by the new bruises, Ezra could not take much more of this.

"Well hello darling." She stepped into the room and immediately brought things to a standstill. "Started without me?"

Ezra’s jaw dropped open while Bertenelli and his companion merely stared at this exciting creature dressed in black leather (what else?) appear before them, sauntering into the room with the sleek grace of a cat. What was she doing here? He wondered and felt his heart leapt with excitement until the realisation that she had just walked into an extremely hazardous situation, dawned upon him.

"Perhaps my dear," Ezra said sputtering blood as he tried to speak. "You should depart the way you came. Now is not really a good time." He looked at her with a silent plea to leave while she could. These were dangerous men who would kill her if they had a chance. He would gladly endure the dying at the hands of these men if he knew that she had not jeopardised her own safety because of him.

"Of course it is." She replied and moved deeper into the room. "I’m sure your friends won’t mind." She flashed them a dazzling smile and continued approaching Bertenelli. She could see that he was truly worried about her and she was more than touched by the gesture but she was not leaving him here to suffer at the hands of these brutes.

"Who the fuck are you?" He growled as she moved in close, pressing her body against his.

Ezra watched in horror as Bertenelli appeared unswayed by such feminine wiles and was preparing to act. What was she doing here? Ezra wondered and wished she could have picked a less in opportune time to make her entrance. "Miss Fox..." Ezra spoke up again because he did not know what else to call her since their relationship, such as it was, had not progressed far enough for them to be on a first named basis.

"Hush now darling," she held a finger to her lips. "I was speaking to your friend..."

"I ain’t got nothing to say to you sister," Bertenelli growled. "Now sit the fuck down before I give you some of what I’m giving him."

He started to swing the gun in her direction when all of a sudden, she caught the arm holding it with her own and slammed her elbow with practised force into the mid section of his forearm. The ugly squelch of snapping bone ripped through the air as Bertenelli dropped the weapon immediately, screaming in agony as jagged edges protruded through broken flesh.

"Johnny!" His friend advanced trying to reach her with the blade. The mook was too damn stupid to go for the gun and since he was not going to do so, she decided she would help him along by not giving him the chance later. Throwing her leg out in a sidekick, the ball of her foot met the soft part of his stomach, causing damage immediately. She closed the distance between them in seconds, grabbing his hand and snapping the wrist so far back that it brought tears to Ezra’s eyes just hearing the crunch of bone. The other man let out a high piercing cry of pain as the blade clattered to the floor. His scream was soon cut short when she yanked him forward by his injured wrist and cut short his progress towards her with a palm strike that swept him off his feet and dropped him to the floor. He felt down, back first and she wasted no time retrieving the gun tucked in his trousers. However, she heard the sound of movement behind her coupled with Ezra shouting.

"Behind you!" He warned.

She turned around to see Johnny coming at her, crimson rage in his face as he clutched his broken arm and determined not to be beaten by a woman. She thew a back kick, aiming this one a little lower and struck the man where she was certain he was not going to get up again. Johnny let out a second scream as he collapsed onto the ground, holding his groin in agony as she searched the floor for the second gun. His friend had recovered enough to get on his knees when she retrieved Johnny’s gun and whirled around swiftly to face him.

"Take him and get out of here." She ordered both guns aimed squarely at him as she made her threat. "PMS is a real bitch isn’t it?"

Ezra watched with his jaw agape as he saw the smaller man was not about to argue with the beautiful woman who had just kicked both their asses with such ruthless efficiency that it was nearly art. Even though he was bleeding and aching from the beating inflicted by Bertenelli, Ezra found himself sigh with longing just as he had the first moment he had seen her at that fund raiser, wondering how such a magnificent creature could be such an enigma at times. What was she doing here? Not that he was complaining of course, she had just saved his life. Ezra had deemed himself to be insane of course, considering he was more concerned over why she was here instead of the fact that she had just kept him from a rather awful death. He could not help it.

She  _was_  the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Bertenelli’s savant complied immediately, picking up the groaning man off the floor before they both staggered out of the room, tail tucked between their legs and ice packs soon to take its place. Within seconds, they were gone and it was just Ezra alone with Fox once again. She looked at the guns in her hands with distaste before emptying the bullets in both chambers. The unused projectiles scattered across the floor upon making contact, disappearing under furniture and other places as she tossed both weapons onto the nearby sofa and started towards him.

"You don’t look so good, Agent Standish." She dropped to her knees and looked at him.

"I have been better." He admitted, finally allowing the pain he had been trying to hide show in his face. He did not want to display weakness in front of her but the bruises in his side, some older injuries inflicted by her and the newer ones, delivered courtesy of Mr Bertenelli and Co had culminated into throbbing ache he could no longer ignore. He could feel broken ribs.

"I can see that." Julia replied looking him over.

"What are you doing here?" He had to ask since to him that question held more importance than the need for medical treatment.

She went silent for a moment and the look of confidence that had been her trademark expression suddenly evaporated. "You’ve been driving me insane."

Ezra maintained his poker face even though he was pleased to know that he was not the only one whose life had been turned upside down by their meeting. "Is that a good thing?"

"Not for me." She remarked and let out a heavy sigh. Instead, she turned her attention to his split lip and started dabbing the blood with the corner of his shirttail. "I do not like emotional attachments."

"Then why are you here?" He asked, wishing she would untie him. He felt decidedly ineffectual, as it was already with her charging to his rescue kind of damsel in distress.

"I can’t answer that." She said with a frown. "I thought I might get to know you. See what it was about that’s gotten under my skin."

"Your timing was impeccable." He replied, taking the opportunity to express his gratitude after what she had done. "Thank you Miss Fox for saving my life."

"For now," she took a deep breath and let it go. "I think you can call me Julia."

"Julia." Ezra found himself smiling, happy that they were progressing to a point where she trusted him with a name. "Is that truly your name or is it some alias you used in your nocturnal activities?"

"It’s about as real as its going to get for us now." She retorted revealing no more than that. "I am sorry about hurting you." She replied, feeling genuine regret about that.

"I think you have made up for that with tonight’s performance, Julia." He replied, pulling at his restraints as an indication to be freed. "Would you mind undoing this ropes, I am feeling a little vulnerable at the moment."

She looked at him bound to the chair and suddenly an evil thought crossed her lips and she raised her green eyes to him. Instead of turning her attention to the restraints around his wrists, she began undoing the buckle of his pants.

Ezra’s eyes widened and he stuttered his response. "What are you doing?"

"Making my apologies." She said with a smile as she pulled down his pants around his knees and slid down the briefs he wore, exposing his most private area to her.

Ezra made some further remark following that action but was certain that everything that came from his mouth was pure gibberish.

Barely giving him time to come to grips with the situation, she smiled at him once again before wrapping her hands around him and lowering her head so that the rapidly hardening member reached her lips. She breathed gently against it first and then raised her gaze to his face, watching his eyes cloud over with the first sensations. Laving her tongue over the tightening flesh, she allowed her warmth breath to caress him. His thigh muscles jerked slightly, inciting her to continue. When the wet heat of her mouth enclosed him, Ezra could only drop his head into the back of the seat and surrender completely to the incredible sensation of her lips on him.

Lost in the pleasure of the insistent sucking and stroking his cock was being forced to endure, Ezra was unable to believe the day he was he was having. A moment ago, he was being set upon by two Italians who were bent on killing him. Out of nowhere, the woman of his dreams had appeared to rescue him from their clutches only to have her go down on him while he was still strapped to the chair, with blood oozing from a split lip. Good Lord, could things get any stranger?

"Actually," he whispered hoarsely, amazed at all that he could manage a coherent sentence while watching her bounce up and down him with those perfect lips. "A simple sorry and perhaps an acceptance of a dinner invitation would have done."

"Well," she paused and Ezra decided he was never saying a word again, if she would just continue what she was doing. His body was aching in pain but the pleasure she was delivering with her mouth drove all that away and he quivered in anticipation for more of what she had just been doing to him. "This is dinner," she purred. "Depending on your perspective." She smiled wickedly before lowering herself roughly onto him again.

"Oh dear lord," he gasped and decided he was not going to argue with her any more on this point.

The eagerness in which she swallowed his aching member deep into her mouth was more than Ezra could stand. The sensation of her lips on his cock made him moan out loud, his hips rising to meet the hard suction of her mouth as she moved up and down his thick shaft. When she placed her hands on either side of his thighs to hold him down, Ezra thought he was going to lose all sense completely. Somehow, he managed to maintain his control even though he could not help but groan loudly the more insistent her momentum became. With a start, he realised that he was being very vocal as he continued to thrust his hips forward, his cock determined to bury itself as far into her throat as possible while fighting her efforts to keep him still. The pleasure of what her tongue was doing to him was beyond description.

Eventually when she had all of him in her mouth and she shifted her hands to caress the inside of his thighs, raking her fingers gently against the sensitised flesh, relishing the fresh sighs of ecstasy that was engendered from that action. Nothing gave her a greater sense of appreciation for a man then when she delivered this oral pleasure and was allowed to amuse herself with his intense reactions.

Ezra could hardly breathe. His entire world was centred around what she was doing to him. His fingers digging into the leather of the chair, his eyes closed as he wallowed in the ecstasy being delivered to him within the tight ring of her mouth while she manipulated his body with ruthless pleasure and brought him closer and closer to orgasm. This was hardly the first time he had ever enjoyed such an experience with a woman but none had managed to snatch control from him with such torturous ease. His fingers were clawing at air and she no longer stopped him from thrusting into her heavenly mouth. She simply increased the pressure even more until all he could feel was that surge of crushing weight as her lips slid over his shaft before culminating in an insistent sucking when she reached the swollen tip. Ezra could feel the sudden tightening in his groin when his cock hardened beyond the point of endurance and the back of his stamina started to crumble.

"Oh Jesus!" He gasped as he let himself go. Ezra’s entire being shuddered into ecstasy as he came crashing down from the pinnacle of pleasure she had sent him so willingly. She held him firm, not quite done with him as she forced every last drop of his seed into her mouth, exulting in the sobs he made when he went over the edge with a resounding groan of guttural pleasure. She found that she liked how vocally he expressed himself when the moment was upon him and almost purred in satisfaction as she lapped him up like he was the tastiest thing in the world.

Ezra in the meantime could do nothing but tremble in the wake of this unbelievable experience as she continued her ministrations, kneeling between his legs as she cleaned his cock with her wonderful tongue. God, it had been a long time. It had been too long since he had felt this kind of release. He was astonished by how hard she had made him come. He sat there, trembling and weakened as she cleaned him off.

When she was done, she button him back to respectability before raising herself to his mouth and planting a long, passionate kiss where her tongue explored his and drove away the stinging pain of his split lip. He felt her hands resting gently on his chest before moving away but he hardly noticed it because since the first, her kisses had the power to make him forget everything. When she pulled away, he found himself breathless.

Julia smiled at him and got to her feet. "I’ve got to go."

"Now?" He exclaimed disappointed, wanting her to stay, wanting to pleasure her like she had done him. "But....."

"You are not in any shape for the main event, as much as I wish it were otherwise." She said winking at him before starting towards the balcony again. Before Ezra could say anything else, she had swept out of the room and he was alone once more.

Ezra was about to contemplate how he was going to get out of this chair when he noticed that the ropes around his wrists were untied.

"Lord, she’s good." He said with an affectionate smile on his face.

Suddenly, the moment was broken by the sudden arrival of Buck Wilmington and Nathan Jackson. The two men burst into the room, having seen the door ajar and knew instinctively that Ezra was too careful too allow his front door to be open for just anyone to enter unannounced.

"Ezra are you okay!" The big man demanded before stopping short at the sight of Ezra covered in bruises and blood.

"Good lord, they worked you over good!" Nathan exclaimed, hurrying to him.

"We just got the call about twenty minutes ago that Bertenelli was on the loose. Seems he used his family connections to wrangle himself an early parole. Chris called me and Nathan cause we were nearest to your apartment." Buck explained as he approached Ezra with less anxiety than Nathan. Ezra may talk like a Sunday school teacher at times but he was tough as they come and he would recover from his bruises, Buck was certain.

"Come talk to me," Nathan asked because Ezra had not spoken. Of course, with the injuries beating he must have endured to get these bruises, it was understandable if he did not feel particularly verbal but hell, this was Ezra. Ezra being silent was a very rare happenstance at any point and naturally concerned the healer. "It ain’t like you to go all quiet on us now."

"I’m fine.’ Ezra responded, wondering just how much he was going to omit when he was required to explain this. "Just fine. I do not suppose that either of you gentlemen have a cigarette on you?" He asked, sounding a little dazed as he made the request. He was dazed all right, just not from Bertenelli’s beating.

Buck looked at him. "I thought you quit."

"I did." Ezra said with an unusually satisfied smile on his face. "I just wanted one tonight."

"I suppose getting the crap kicked out of you qualifies as reason enough to take a smoke." Buck could not fault him for that, after all Ezra did look like he was put through something of an ordeal at Bertenelli’s hands.

"Yes," Ezra mused, letting out another deep sigh of longing before he answered Buck’s question. "It was quite unpleasant."

Nathan and Buck shook their heads in puzzlement, unable to understand the strange smile of contentment on his face even when they drove him to the hospital.


	4. Set Up

It was purely by chance that while Ezra Standish was strolling through the Denver Art Museum almost a week his encounter with Julia, aka the Crimson Fox, when he noticed the familiar red of copper coloured hair moving through the crowd. At first, he was uncertain it was indeed the object of his passions and tried vainly to keep her in his sights as he shoved people out of the way in most ungentlemanlike fashion in his determination to prove it was indeed her. Unfortunately, as always, she was too quick for him and once again, Julia vanished into thin air with the same spectral trail, he was becoming begrudgingly accustomed to finding whenever he tried to find her.

Fortunately for him, however, Ezra did not believe she had seen him despite his fruitless attempts to pursue her and that left him at something of an advantage. Since the woman was a professional thief, not to mention an international cat burglar, there could only be one reason why she would be at the museum. Knowing that allowed him a little bit of leverage when he approached museum security and identified himself to them and alerting the rather disgruntled security chief that there was the possibility of a robbery being planned. Although unhappy at the involvement of an ATF agent in what should have been exclusively his domain, Ezra bartered his information well enough to procure himself a view of all security video recorded by the cameras located strategically throughout the establishment.

It did not take long to find her even though she had been moving through the place with dark glasses covering her amazing emerald coloured eyes and was wearing a nondescript tan coat that was sold in a thousand different shops over the continental US of A. It was the kind of apparel that would allow her to fade into the background had she been seen by anyone else but Ezra Standish. As he watched her glide across the screen, appearing so tantalisingly mysterious that she occupied his thoughts almost night and day, Ezra remembered with a smile, their last encounter.

It had taken almost two days for the smile to wear off his face.

The only thing of interest at the museum at present was a new exhibit from Europe, featuring one of Davinci’s lesser paintings but nevertheless, the famous Italian’s name on any piece of oiled canvas was enough to send its value through the stratosphere. The painting would be on display for another two days and Ezra was convinced that the Crimson Fox, should.... no,  _when_  she decided to make a move on the priceless piece of art, would do so before its removal from the museum. For the first time since he had met her, Ezra had some idea where she was going to appear next. He wanted to find her more desperately than anything in his life and intensity of his feelings for her told Ezra that if he did not find her soon, she would vanish forever.

Thus instead of going it alone as he normally did when attempting to catch her and usually incurring the wrath of Team 7’s leader, Chris Larabee when the inevitable foul up landed in a file on top of his desk, Ezra played it smart this time and requested help. Surprisingly enough, instead of receiving a stern reminder what was in the purview of ATF jurisdiction from the man, Ezra instead astonished when Chris agreed that it was time to put this matter of the Crimson Fox forever. In retrospect, Ezra could see why Chris would have agreed to their involvement since the woman had slipped out of their fingers on two occasions already. Failure was not something Chris tolerated well and after so many arrests of the worst characters imaginable, allowing a cat burglar to get away twice would have inspired the man’s hostility to no end.

Julia was about to learn what a dangerous thing it was to injure Chris Larabee’s pride.

* * *

"I hope this ain’t another wild goose chase." Vin Tanner drawled as he and Ezra waited inside a maintenance closet down the hall from where the Davinci was being exhibited. However, Julia would be making her entry into the premises, she would have to pass by this room to get to the painting. Chris and the others were stationed at discreetly at every possible entrance into the building leaving Vin and Ezra here to drop the net once the quarry had arrived. Since on every occasion Ezra had run into the Fox, he had been beaten senseless (at least in the encounters Chris knew about), Vin who was Team 7’s resident expert in hand to hand combat was to see to it this did not happen again.

Apparently, Chris was sick of filling out injury reports for just  _one_  person.

"I assure you, Mr Tanner," Ezra said trying to keep his own impatience from his voice at their less than glamorous surroundings. "She will be here."

Of course, it was very hard to be optimistic about this when he was surrounded by brooms, mops and the distinct stench of ammonia from detergent bottles was really cramping the scent of his cologne (which he was still telling himself he had worn only for Vin’s benefit). It had been two hours since the sun had gone down and the various security patrols assigned to do their regular patrols on the hour had faded away, leaving automation to take care of the painting for the rest of the night.

"She’s really got under your skin, hasn’t she?" The sharpshooter asked with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"This from the man who discharges his firearm in order to get rid of a rival." Ezra looked at him with a smirk on his face.

"It was a misfire!" Vin hissed defensively. "Why DOESN’T anyone believe me?"

"Because it is a load of horse manure."

"You seriously think I would shoot you in the ass, on purpose?" Vin stared at him.

"Do you seriously think that anyone would believe you had a misfire when you are the most proficient person we all know with a firearm?"

Well, Ezra had him there Vin had to concede defeat. "Keep it up and you’ll be getting another dimple on your cheek and I’m not talking about your face." 

* * *

Julia emerged from her hiding place in the wet space between the walls of the museum, having been there since closing this evening. As far as she was concerned, the best way to get into a museum with this kind of security was through the front door. She had prepared her way out but decided to save herself the trouble by entering the museum as a tourist and then hiding out until the doors were closed. Slipping through the vent leading to the floor of the Davinci exhibition room, Julia quickly took a moment to change into her work clothes, via a small bag containing her tools and equipment she had secreted behind a large pot plant in the corner of the corridor just before it.

Once she was in her familiar leather body suit and more suitably attired for the task ahead, Julia went to work. Firstly, she took the precaution of disabling all the security cameras in her immediate vicinity before donning on a pair of infra-red goggles and turning her attention to the more sophisticated security devices in place. It took her almost a good half an hour to bypass the laser sensor, motion detectors and sonic equipment in place to protect the valuable painting before she even reached the doorway leading to the exhibition room.

The painting sat in the middle of the room since it was the showcase piece and as she sidestepped the crisscrossing beams of laser energy running through the room, she knew that there were probably more surprises waiting when she reached the object. A Davinci made a Monet look like pocket change and could understand why most would rather keep the thing than sell it on the black market. She would not have minded keeping the painting for herself if it was not so damn dangerous but she let out a sigh when she reached it and told herself with some disappointment,  _it was simply not mean to be._

Reaching the velvet ropes that surrounded the painting, Julia took a moment to admire the beauty of the Maestro’s work. The observation lasted no more than a second before she crossed the ropes and got to work.

* * *

"Mr Tanner," Ezra hissed quietly at the sharpshooter who was poised at the door, poised for action. "Mr Larabee has just informed me that all the video in the northeast corridor is no longer operational." He replied, tapping the small headset he was wearing around his ears that allowed them communication with the rest of Team 7.

Vin tensed immediately at the realisation. "She’s here."

"I believe that was what I was attempting to say," Ezra frowned. "I believe we should make our move now."

"Good idea," Vin agreed. "Tell Chris to disable all the security devices. We’re going in."

Ezra nodded, hating to trap Julia this way but he had no other choice to find her. He was trying not to let his conscience get the better of him as he was reminded of how she had saved his life only a week ago. Suddenly, he felt like an utter cad for orchestrating her capture like this. However, he had set into motion events that could no longer be stopped and would have to see it through.

"Mr Larabee, Mr Tanner and I are moving in. Please disable all the security devices so this establishment does not become a Fourth of July parade when we tackle the Fox."

"Taking care of it now." The leader of Team 7 answered before a short pause followed. "Okay, security is disarmed. We’ll be in position when you acquire the target." Chris’ sfamiliar voice returned through the earpiece shortly.

"Understood," Ezra replied and then turned to Vin. "It appears we have a go."

Ezra saw Vin nod and slowly twisted the handle of the door. The mechanism made little sound as it unlatched before the door swung open and Vin slipped out first with Ezra following close behind. Outside the corridor was dark and Ezra allowed Vin to take the lead since when it came to stealthy approaches, there was no one better than Vin Tanner at the art. The sharpshooter moved across the floor without making a sound and their approach was aided by the inert status of all the security devices in place within the museum. Somewhere in the darkness, Ezra knew that Chris Larabee and the rest of Team 7 were closing in. He wondered how Julia would react when she knew that the trap that about to be pounced upon her was entirely his doing.

Suffice to say, there was probably  _not_  going to be a repeat of what she had done to him in his apartment.

Vin reached the exhibition hall first and paused at the doorway. Ezra could hear nothing and his confusion mirrored that of Vin’s because they both assumed she would be well into stealing the painting by now. All signs indicated that the Fox was in the building. Yet as they peered over the edge of the doorway, the space that she would have been occupying in order to remove the painting, was vacant.

"What the hell..." Vin started to say as the barrel of the gun in his hand sagged a little.

Suddenly, a foot kicked out at him from the corner of the doorway and sent the weapon flying across the room. Julia stepped out then, prepared to make another kick but this time Vin had some idea of what he was dealing with after their last encounter and was ready for her, despite the loss of his weapon. He grabbed her foot before it could strike and break several bones in his sternum before twisted it viciously, spinning her in mid-air before she came crashing down on the hard floor.

"Julia, give it up!" Ezra called out as he saw her lying on the floor dazed as Vin moved to retrieve his gun.

His voice sent a surge of clarity through her disorientation and she immediately got on her feet and faced him briefly before she realised what Vin was doing. Knowing that she could not allow him to retrieve his weapon, Julia slammed her body into the sharpshooter, knocking him off his feet as Ezra hurried forward to help his fallen comrade. Julia swung a flying kick at the gambler, kicking his gun from his hand and smashing her palm into his throat, which more or less destroyed any resistance, he was going to put up.

"You son of a bitch! You set me up?" Julia glared at him through narrowed eyes with no sympathy whatsoever for injury as he staggered backwards, clutching his throat in pain after she had nearly crushed his windpipe. "After I saved your ass that night!" Her cheeks flushed red with crimson while sputtering in fury, unable to believe that he could do this to her.

"Get over it, lady!" Vin declared, ending his response with a full body tackle of his own. Both of them tumbled to the floor as footsteps started pounding towards them. Both combatants broke free of each other and got to their feet before immediately launching themselves at one another in a series of high kicks and defensive blows.

Through the haze of pain, Ezra saw Vin giving as good as he got and there was just a little bit more power behind his blows to gain the advantage. She was fighting him with everything she had and Ezra could tell that Vin was fighting to keep her at bay. Her legs moved at lightning speed, sending kicks in his direction that Vin was able to fend off at the barest fraction of a second to spare before impact and the sharpshooter delivered strikes of his own that had to hurt. Suddenly, Ezra saw the realisation in her eyes there might not only two agents in the building but more just as it dawned upon her that staying to fight had robbed her of precious time she should have used to escape.

She broke away from Vin abruptly, pausing long enough to cast an expression of betrayal and hurt at Ezra’s direction before she ran out of the room and down the corridor. She was just about to turn down the hallway when she ran straight into Chris Larabee.

"End of the road," Chris said simply and emphasised his point by the gun he pressed against her heart no sooner than those words had left his lips. Julia had to only look at those steel coloured eyes to know that moving right now would be a fatal mistake. Behind him, she could see the rest of the ATF agents swirling around her, closing off any other avenues of escape. With a loud sigh as her shoulders slumped slightly, she knew she was done.

She was caught.

"I guess it is." She said with complete dignity and would not show anyone how deeply Ezra’s betrayal had wounded her. Julia could deal with being caught. She could even deal with the fact that these ATF agents had been the one to apprehend her but Ezra’s taking part in this had hurt more than she had expected it would. Of course, Julia could hardly blame him for being what he was any more than she could help herself for she did for a living but it still  _hurt_. She cared about him a great deal and could not deny that she might even love him. Nothing else could explain the changes she had been going through the last weeks since their meeting. Begrudgingly, Julia was forced to admit she was in love with Agent Standish just as she knew that her anger at him was not permanent. She was going to make him pay for this in sweet agony once she extricated herself from this present difficulty. Capture always an aspect of the game even though it did not happen to her very often but there was still that trump card left up her sleeve the ATF did not know about.

The lights came back on illuminating the entire room and Julia saw that there were ATF agents and security guards surrounded her. Their total numbered in the dozens and she realised that there would be no miracle escape this time.  _Fine_ , she was caught, she could live with it but she was still furious with Ezra though.

"Vin, Ezra, you okay?" Chris shifted his gaze long enough to see the sharpshooter and the gambler approaching. Vin was limping a bit but seemed all right for the most part while Ezra seemed to be turning a shade of blue as he clutched his throat, barely controlling the pain that her attack had caused.

Julia saw him suffering and thought to herself.  _Good_.

"I’m fine but I think Ezra needs to go to the hospital," Vin replied, looking at him with concern.

Goddamn it, Chris swore under his breath.  _Not another one of those damn forms!_

"We got your girl though," Buck said exuberantly as he moved to snap handcuffs around Julia's wrists. She seemed more amused by the notion than anything else.

"I would not waste my time, Mr Wilmington." Ezra managed to say as he approached Julia when Buck made the attempt. "The lady is a professional thief who unlocks safes for a living, I doubt she will any difficulty extricating herself from a pair of handcuffs."

"He’s right," Chris agreed, not removing the gun from her chest before he looked down at the titian-haired beauty that was quite diminutive now that he had a chance to observe her. "You were at the fundraiser." He realised and looked at Ezra in a hint of accusation that his agent had kept  _that_  bit of news from him.

"What can I say?" Julia gave him a sarcastic smirk and then had to begrudgingly admit as well that she could now see why Mary was driving herself to distraction over this man. He was without doubt utterly magnificent if dark, brooding sombre, sons of bitches were one’s cup of tea. "I like raffles."

The rest of Team 7 stifled their sniggering before Chris gave Ezra a look that said ‘ _we’ll talk about this later_ ’ and the turned back to her. "Get her out of here."

"What for?" A new voice suddenly spoke out, one that no one recognised and was not part of either teams, security or ATF.

They all turned to a man who was dressed in a tuxedo and appeared to have come from a formal event. He was accompanied by two other suits and did not at all look impressed with what had happened.

"Thank you for arriving so quickly Mr Packard," Julia called out with a smile, astonishing everyone with that action. "As you can I see, I have encountered difficulties."

While Ezra and the rest of Team 7 did not recognise the new arrival, the security men employed by the museum certainly did and gulped immediately at his presence. Packard marched straight up to Chris Larabee with an unhappy expression on his face and not at all intimidated by Chris’ usually overpowering demeanour.

"I am Roderick Packard, Director of this museum." The man said sharply before allowing his gaze to sweep over the rest of the people present. "Who are you?"

"Agent Larabee," Chris replied. "ATF. We just caught this woman attempting to steal your painting." The leader of Team 7 stiffened at the man’s behaviour, particularly since he and his men had just busted their asses to save this museum from a multi-million dollar art heist.

Ezra stared at Julia, unable to comprehend what was happening or why she appeared so unperturbed about being in custody. Earlier, he thought her anger was about getting her captured but now he realised that it was directed at him on a more personal level. She was glaring at him with nothing less than outrage but her ire was only for  _him_  and not anyone else. About the situation she presently found herself in, Julia was decidedly composed and Ezra started to have a very bad feeling about this.

"What you did was interfere with a contracted employee of this facility in the process of doing her job!" Packard barked back not caring at all for the impressive qualifications wielded by these men. His eyes blazed with fury and Chris began to share the same feeling of foreboding that Ezra was secretly experiencing right now.

"Doing her job!" Buck cried out in disbelief. "She was stealing a painting!"

"It’s a fake!" Packard exclaimed as if he were talking to a bunch of moronic children. "The original was moved this morning!"

"Aw hell....."Chris started to groan, suddenly understanding. "Let me understand this, that painting in there is a fake and she was hired to test the security system?" He had heard of operations like this before, where some museums hired people who were capable of bypassing the internal safeguards like this woman had proven herself over dept at doing, in order to correct any blind spots that may exist in the security system. No doubt, after she had taken the painting tonight, she would have reported to Packard and his people, just how she had managed to accomplish that feat in order for them to correct the oversight in security that would prevent such an incursion from happening again.

"That’s right," Julia pulled herself away from the reach of Chris’ gun and gave him a triumphant smile. "When I heard you ATF idiots stumbling around here like a pack of wild elephants, I called Packard on my cell phone anticipating I might need his help if you assholes actually got lucky and caught me."

"You mean you knew the painting was a fake?" Ezra looked at her with confusion.

"Of course I did." She stepped up to him. "I was planning on staying in town for a while and thought the job might prove interesting."

The rest of team 7 started to groan at the spectacular bungle that this was turning out to be but Ezra had only eyes for Julia at this time. "I thought...."

"I know what you thought," she said sharply. Her voice might have been angry put her eyes were filled with pain and Ezra cursed himself for a fool. Here she was, preparing to make a life-changing decision by going straight of all things,  _for him_ , and he had repaid her by turning her in. He did not think it was possible to feel so miserable in this entire life.

"You can kiss my ass you son of a bitch." She retorted and flattened Ezra with a single blow before brushing past all of them. He reeled backwards from the punch, feeling blood gush out of his nose and wondering whether he was ever going to get past the sadomasochistic relationship he had with this woman.

"Julia, wait!" He called out and ran after her.

"Go to hell!" She swore and rounded the corner, not waiting for him.

Ezra let out a deep breath and decided to give up. Besides, if he knew Julia, she would be dropping in on him soon enough probably to make him bleed some more. Turning around, he saw Chris arguing with the museum director and besides, by the time Chris got through with him, the injuries he sustained at Julia’s hands would be slight in comparison to what the ATF team leader was going to do to him for this mistake.

Sometimes, he wondered if it would be simpler to go home and hang himself with a tablecloth.


	5. Vengeance

Ezra Standish was bored.

He glanced at the screen for the hundredth time, trying to be interested in what he was typing but his mind kept wandering, despite his best efforts to concentrate on his work. His thoughts seemed to be in a state of flux today, unable to focus on any one subject. He looked away from his screen and rubbed his eyes, hoping the digital clock on the edge of his immaculate desk would tell him that it was definitely time to go home. Unfortunately, the green illumination did not offer him that respite but did let him know that it was nearing lunch which was not quite as liberating as going home for the evening but Ezra was not about to quibble over small consolations.

Outside, it was a nice warm summer day. It was the kind of day that made one question the need for walls and air-conditioning and all the annoyances of being pent up inside four walls for too long a time. He eased back into his chair, considering how he would spend the hour of freedom from this place and entertained himself with the quaint idea of lunching outdoors, perhaps in the balmy surroundings of a local park or an arboretum he knew not too far from here.

Allowing his sea coloured eyes to sweep over the room, Ezra saw the rest of Team 7 wearing the same look of boredom on their faces. All except Chris Larabee, who was gazing at Mary Travis over the stack of papers he was supposedly working on while the journalist was typing away at the computer screen at a vacant desk. Of course, the man was doing everything possible to hide the fact he was basking in the loveliness of the blond woman who had undoubtedly captured his heart in the opinion of every man in the room, no matter how Chris may deny it. Ezra rolled his eyes, wondering why the leader of Team 7 just did not  _tell_  the woman how he felt. Instead, they danced around each other like the mating alligators Ezra had once chanced to see during a trip to Florida.

The others were just as similarly enthused about being here today. Vin Tanner was at his desk, with his back faced away from the rest of the team. The sharpshooter was cradling his phone between his ear and shoulders while speaking in soft tones to someone who could only be Alexandra Styles to engender that much secrecy, while Buck was reading a magazine with his feet on the table. Ezra gave it about another ten minutes before Chris emerged from his office and shouted at his old friend to get back to work since the magazine in question happened to be the jumbo edition of Sports Illustrated. JD eyes were fixed firmly on his computer screen but Ezra had no doubt that what had captured the youth’s attention was not at all a report but rather the umpteenth level of Red Dead Redemption which he helping the deadly John Marston traverse. Nathan and Josiah were at the coffee machine in the hallway, lingering there and staring longingly at the clock, waiting for it to strike twelve just as he was.

Ezra turned back to the screen and frowned because he still had not managed to put more than three words to the report chronicling the embarrassment of two days ago when he had mistakenly dragged all his comrades to the Denver Art Museum. Ezra had been certain Julia, the mysterious thief who had captured his heart and affirmed with every encounter he was well and truly head over heels, would be attempting a possible heist of a priceless Davinci painting on display at the premises.

Team 7 had staked out the place, mobilising museum security and coordinating with their head of security in preparation for her arrival and arrest. Unfortunately, after they had apprehended her, it was discovered Julia or the Fox as she was called by Interpol, was gainfully employed by the museum director to test their security measures in the protection of the Davinci. Not only did they come out of the experience with egg well and truly on their faces but Chris Larabee had found himself with a great deal of explaining to do to just about everyone.

Ezra had not believed that it was possible for anyone to scream for an hour straight but Chris managed to prove once again, he was capable of any feat, especially  _that_  one. Ezra could hardly blame him of course. The leader of Team 7 had spent half the night apologising the museum owner, Mr Packard and then the other half of it explaining it to the Assistant Director, assuring the man that they were not going to be slapped with a lawsuit. Needless to say when he came to work the next morning, the first person he wanted to see was Ezra.

The ATF agent flinched just remembering how furious Chris had been during that interview and had been in a foul mood for the rest of the day until he volunteered to take Mary Travis to her son’s baseball game. Secretly, Ezra wondered what had happened at the game to assuage such a foul mood because Chris was smiling when he returned.

However, even enduring Chris Larabee in a foul mood was not as bad as seeing the hurt in Julia’s eyes when she realised that it was he who had set her up. Considering how she had saved his life when the mobster Bertinelli had come gunning for him at his apartment, Ezra felt like something of a cad for his betrayal. Unfortunately, there was no way he knew to make reparations because he had no idea where she would turn up next. The woman was like a jack in the box, appearing just long enough to throw his entire world into disarray.

Like now.

"Julia!" Ezra gasped in surprise as he saw his lady fair walk through the front door of the offices occupied by Team 7. Unlike the previous times where she had been clad in soft figure-hugging leather that emphasised every glorious curve of her form which Ezra now committed to memory, on this occasion she was dressed like a woman out and about for the day. She was wearing an expensive dark blue suit with capri pants and heels and still managed to look utterly spectacular.

When Ezra had seen her previously, she had moved with the stealthy caution of a cat. However, in the broad daylight, she was a woman of the world, exuding bold, confident sexuality as she moved, capturing the attention of every man that she happened by. Julia strode into the office, completely ignoring the fact only two days ago, everyone in this room had been poised to arrest her. Her arrival sparked astonishment from the rest of his comrades as she entered their private bastion, supremely confident and oblivious to the history that existed between the Fox and Team 7.

The stir caused by her appearance rippled through the room like the swell of a wave. Vin immediately hung up the phone; Buck actually tore his eyes from the curves of Barbara Palvin in a thong, while John Marston met a grisly end at the hands of some gunslinger when JD forgot all about the game. It drew Josiah and Nathan away from their conversation and caused Mary Travis to forget about her story. Finally, the effect reached its climax at the door of Chris Larabee’s office as the leader of Team 7 emerged from behind his desk at the sight of this interloper who had dared to intrude upon his exclusive domain. Ezra swallowed as he saw the storm forming on Chris’ face as he strode out of his office towards the woman who had barely given Ezra a second glance as she passed by his desk and caused him a stab of pain by her avoidance.

If things could not descend any further into the unexpected, Mary Travis rose from her desk at that moment and went towards Julia, exclaiming loudly with a warm smile on her face. "Julia, what a surprise!"

The jaw of every man in the room dropped collectively.

"You know this person?" Chris sputtered in astonishment as he saw Mary and Julia exchange the warm hug reserved those who had been friends for a long time, before giving each other a small peck on the cheek.

"Of course I do," Mary looked at him when she and Julia parted, with an expression that alluded to what business it was of his. "Julia’s my oldest friend."

"We sure are," Julia gave Chris a smug wink while Mary’s attention was focussed in Chris’s direction. She missed the look and turned her back on Chris after a moment’s deliberation, deciding his interest was not required when her affairs with Julia were a private matter.

"Well darling," Julia said regarding her best friend. "I thought since we are going to be occupying the same postcode for some time, we can do the catching up thing and go grab some lunch."

"That sounds great." Mary smiled, although she was somewhat confused by all the stunned expressions around her, particularly that on Chris and Ezra’s face. Chris mostly because he could not believe this criminal had allied herself with a woman he cared for deeply and Ezra because Julia had been under his nose and within reach all the time and he had no idea of it.

"I’ll just get my bag." Mary started towards her desk when suddenly Chris found his voice.

"You can’t go to lunch with this woman!" Chris barked. "She’s a goddamn thief for Christ’s sake!"

Mary whirled around in her retreat stared at him as if he had finally gone insane. "What are you talking about? Julia’s an art dealer!"

It occurred to Ezra at this point Mary had no idea what Julia did for a living and debated whether or not to press the issue. It was obvious Julia and Mary had been friends for a very long time and such friendships, considering Julia’s vocation, appeared to have been maintained because Mary meant a great deal to her. He was not about to break faith with her a second time although he could not say the same for Chris who had switched into protective mode and could not be reasoned with to hold his tongue on the subject even if Ezra had bothered asking.

"That’s right an art dealer with a few little security jobs on the side," Julia said quickly, prepared for the outburst and had covered all her bases prior to her arrival here. She had expected them to try revealing her secret to Mary and was ready for them. She gave Ezra a look of warning to take cover because by the time she was done with Mr Larabee and  _him_ , there was not going to be much left standing and the last thing on their minds would be what she did for a living. "I’m afraid Mr Larabee and I have had a previous run in."

"Run in?" Mary stared at them both blankly, wondering what on earth an art dealer would have to do with ATF business and defied Chris to explain it to her.

"Ezra?" Chris folded his arms and glared at Ezra because the gambler had been the real culprit of this mess he now found himself in with Mary. "You can do the honours." He commanded and it was  _not_  a request.

"It's somewhat embarrassing really," Ezra cleared his throat and tried to articulate into words the fiasco that was their stakeout of the Denver Art Museum. After much deliberation and carefully placed words to ensure he would not have his friends or Julia head hunting when he was done, Ezra explained what had happened, softening the brutal truth as possible. Still, even he had to recognise that no amount of erudite speech was going to accomplish this to any satisfaction, even if the words were sung in prose and written by the Bard himself.

"Unfortunately," Julia retorted once Ezra had completed the tale, spearing him with sharp points of her emerald eyes because she was still very angry with him. "These Keystone cops can’t get it through their heads that they made complete jackasses of themselves by harassing a professional trying to do her job."

"You are a professional all right," Chris hissed, not about to let this woman get the upper hands or squirm out of what being what she was, especially in his own department. "A professional thief."

"Unless you have the facts to prove that Mr Larabee," Julia took a step up to him and stared him down, not at all affected by the Larabee glare that would have sent most men fleeing. "I suggest you keep those remarks to yourself before I have a lawyer slap you and your team with a lawsuit for slander and wrongful arrest. I have committed no crime in this country so you might consider taking a walk around the block to explain that to yourself or will we need books with pretty pictures?"

 _Ouch_. Ezra thought to himself and fought to keep stifled the smile that was threatening to steal across his features as he watched the woman he loved give Chris Larabee as good as she got. The reaction was shared by the rest of Team 7 who found to their astonishment, that they were starting to like this fiery redhead that had been thrust into their midst and that liking was starting to include a feeling of respect as well.

"You’re guilty, lady!" Buck declared though, still determined to uphold their honour and interject before Chris did something they would all regret because the expression on the team leader’s face was surpassing smouldering and quickly reaching critical mass.

"Oh yeah?" She regarded the tall man and said with a smirk of defiance and cocky self-assurance. "Prove it."

"Give us time," Chris bristled having come to the firm conclusion that the woman had come here merely to rub their noses in it and he was not about to give her any more amusement at their expense. "We will." He said confidently.

Julia offered him a cold smile with a brow raised when she turned back to Mary, who was very confused by everything that was going on and wanting to get Julia out of here so that her old friend could explain things to her.

"Oh by the way Mary, do you know who I saw this morning?" She said changing the subject completely.

Ezra failed to understand what Julia was playing at by coming here not to mention this game of cat and mouse she was indulging with Chris Larabee. The leader of Team 7 was not the person to toy with mostly because Chris’ reaction could be extreme and yet as he watched the sparing, Ezra had the oddest feeling that Chris was not the feline in this little drama. In truth, the gambler had hoped that she had come to see him, in order to give him a chance to explain that he was his job and part of his reasons for setting her up was so that he could see her again. Certainly, it was hardly the most gentlemanly way of capturing a lady’s attention but she had the consistency of smoke. Julia was the most elusive and utterly compelling woman he had ever met that he was willing to go to any lengths to find her again.

Even setting her up for arrest.

"Who?" Mary asked, coming to the conclusion that she was going to get Julia out of here before Chris became any angrier. She had no idea what had transpired to cause such a venomous exchange between Julia and the ATF, but she  _did_  know the ATF leader well enough to be familiar with that temper of his and could tell that he was about to blow a gasket.

"Gerard Whitman, the accountant you recommended," Julia replied and then shifted her gaze long enough to give Chris a look of utter deviousness that signalled immediately to the man what was coming.

Ezra Standish and the rest of Team 7 suddenly bore witnessed to the most amazing thing.

Chris’s eyes widened in nothing less than absolute terror. The emotion surfaced for only a brief second, with a guilty twitch that would have been missed by anyone who did not know him but to his comrades who did, it was unmistakable. The stony expression on Chris’ face wavered and left Ezra wondering what on earth had brought on such uncertainty because nothing ever shook Chris Larabee, not as long as the gambler had known him anyway.

If that was not amazing enough, Ezra then saw Chris starting to withdraw, no he corrected himself, retreat. Chris was taking one slow step backward and then another, slowly shifting himself out of Mary Travis’ reach with Julia enjoying every second of it.

"How is Gerard?" Mary asked, glad that they were moving onto a less volatile subject.

"Oh, he is just fine but somewhat disappointed," Julia answered, keeping her eye trained on the prey now she had him in place for the kill. Chris was visibly squirming now and everyone except Mary could see it.

Ezra exchanged glances with Vin who was closest to Chris and would know better than anyone why their leader was behaving like a cat on a hot tin roof about to leap off the edge into an abyss. The sharpshooter shrugged, unable to answer but just as transfixed by events as he was.

"Disappointed about what?" Mary inquired, noticing the interplay taking place between Julia and Chris and felt her confusion growing. There was a moment when she thought that there was something deeper than just animosity at work here and felt a stab of jealousy thinking that Julia might have captured Chris’ interest.

"About you being a lesbian and dating an office girl in this building," Julia replied bluntly, padding nothing.

"What?" Mary stammered almost stupefied with shock, almost as much as the men around her. It was almost a full second or two before she could respond enough to speak.

"Where the hell would he get an idea like that!!?" She demanded, her voice revealing her mortification as more furious thoughts crossed her mind and the full implications of such an allegation started to impress itself upon her. Suddenly, the nightmarish scenario that Gerard’s belief in such a thing might have allowed him to make this known to Evie, Orin and….

OH GOD! Billy!

With a look of utter innocence as she saw Chris Larabee trying to make it back to his office in one piece, Julia answered Mary with saccharine in her voice. "Why Mr Larabee of course, during some baseball game I believe you two attended. Apparently, Gerard thought that you and I were involved previously, can you imagine that?" She laughed shortly as the others began to understand what had happened and were mixed in their feelings but in agreement about one fact.

Chris was in _a lot_ of trouble.

"Of course, I set him straight that you were not that way inclined although he took a bit of convincing." Julia continued the massacre and Ezra saw Chris flinching with each word she uttered. "It seems Mr Larabee had told him that you wanted it kept a secret."

Mary Travis said nothing.

However, her eyes were another thing entirely. Ezra watched in morbid fascination like a man who was witnessing a terrible automobile accident and wanted to see the bodies left in the wreckage. He watched almost mesmerised as her blue-grey eyes went ballistic, then nuclear and then fusion, all in the space of two seconds before she spoke very calmly, not even turning her gaze in the direction of Chris when the words finally escaped her lips. Ezra had never seen the leader of Team 7 so afraid in his life.

"Don’t you  _dare_  take another step, Mr Larabee," Mary growled in a low voice and then turned to those in the room with a smile almost as sweet as the one Julia had offered just before she threw Chris to the wolves. "Gentlemen, I would like some time alone with Mr Larabee, could you please give us a moment?"

"I am so out of here," Vin replied and Ezra had no idea that it was possible to make for the door so quickly.

"I’m going to MacDonalds." JD offered a similar excuse, wishing to be away before the blood started pouring.

"I’m going to church to pray for a friend." Josiah retorted, genuinely meaning it.

"I’m going to get fresh bandages," Nathan whispered under his breath and made a similarly swift departure.

"I want to watch." Buck Wilmington grinned, always one to enjoy it immensely whenever Chris was in a state of discomfiture. It brought balance to the man’s universe to know that Chris was just as human as the rest of them. However, this time it was not meant to be when Ezra wrapped a hand around Buck’s shoulder and towed him out of the room, despite his vocal protests.

"I’ll leave you two alone," Julia said to Mary even though she was sure her old friend was not listening. As she started to leave the room, she paused long enough to sing out to Chris. "Oh, Mr Larabee?"

Chris looked up and squinted his eyes in delivering a glare that would have incinerated her on the spot if he had the supernatural ability to wish it so. He was rewarded with a satisfied smirk from Julia that made him want to go find his gun, although judging by the sound of Mary’s voice, he might need one anyway just for his own safety.

"Have a nice day." Julia grinned before turning on her heels and walking out of the room.

 

_*Chris and Mary's argument can be found here:[Seven Days - Thursday](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12861744/chapters/29374332)_

 

* * *

"What are you trying to do to me?" Ezra demanded of Julia when he met her in the hallway from where spring slaughter of Chris Larabee was taking place.

"Do to you darling?" Julia batted her lashes and gave him a look of pure innocence as she walked down the corridor towards the elevator. It was a look she was using to the hilt today. "I am doing nothing to you." She replied sweetly and pressed the elevator button upon reaching the huge stainless steel doors.

"Do you  _know_  what Mr Larabee will do to me on account of you pulling this stunt on him?" Ezra demanded unable to imagine the carnage that was going to follow once Chris got him in his sights again. Chris was furious enough with him over this whole issue of the Fox that had his interest bordering on obsession and after the farce at the Denver Museum, Ezra would be surprised if he survived the next 24 hours with his limbs intact. 

"I can’t honestly say," Julia said blithely, showing no signs of interest in his predicament as the elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside, with enough stiffness in her body language to show that she did  _not_  want company on the trip down.

"However," she added with a little wink and a smug smile just before the doors closed between them. "I would say that now, we are even."


	6. La Renarde Rousse

The men had been watching her building the moment Interpol had stumbled across the information that the Fox had a permanent address and appeared as if she was going to settle in Denver. The task force that had been sent to retrieve the suspect knew they had a very narrow margin of time in which to operate. Their presence in the United States was completely legal and snatching a suspect who had committed no crime in this country could be interpreted as an attack upon the sovereignty of US soil.

Unfortunately, the Fox had created many enemies in Europe who wanted her in custody one way or another. Thus when inquiries had been made regarding the nature La Renarde Rousse from the ATF office in Denver, Interpol had converged upon the town quickly, monitoring the movements of the person who had made the inquiry for some time until that surveillance had led them to one name.

Julia Pemberton.

Until that point, they had a partial identification but not a name to which they could attach the face. However, with the name Julia Pemberton, they were able to glean far more than that, they were able to place the woman in all the cities during the time of the robberies committed in Europe through customs records and visa permits issued. While it was hardly enough evidence to justify an order for extradition, it was enough to convince Interpol, they had their woman and allow them the power to take extraordinary measures to bring her to justice.

By the time the Fox had returned to her penthouse apartment, preparations had been made by the men who had been keeping her under close surveillance had made all the necessary preparations to have her taken out of the country, back to Europe.

Where justice would be served at last.

* * *

 _That will teach him to mess with me_ , Julia smiled as she returned home after her very successful lunchtime meeting with Messrs. Larabee and Standish respectively. Although she had felt slightly uncomfortable about using Mary’s relationship with the leader of Team 7, she knew that part of her motivation to let Mary know just how much the man felt about her was so that Mary would address how  _she_  felt. Julia did not have many friends in her life but Mary Travis meant something to her. For the past two years, Mary had lived in something of a vacuum, afraid of reaching out because she would get hurt if she were to lose them like she had lost Stephen.

By spilling the beans about what Chris had said about Gerard, whose only motivation could have been to ward off a potential suitor for Mary’s hand, neither would be able to deny how they felt each other, no matter how stubborn they both were. No doubt, Mary would call her later with all the details but for the moment, she had enjoyed seeing Ezra squirm. Of course, he would be mad but after setting her up at the museum, Julia had a feeling his anger would not last for very long.

She entered the main lobby of her penthouse, greeting the doorman who tipped his hat at her and opened the door as she entered the building. Making her way across the marble floor before the elevators, she did not have long to wait until the doors slid open. Stepping inside, Julia wondered if the card she had left on Ezra’s windshield would bring him here. After all, now that she was a so-called private citizen, not to mention a business owner, there was no reason to keep her identity a secret from him.

A part of her still could not believe the changes she had made in her existence for him but Julia, unlike Mary, did not have trouble with intimacy once she made the decision to let Ezra into her life. She loved him. She had no idea what that would mean to her future but for the moment, knowing that she could feel this way about someone was a nice feeling indeed. The elevator opened at the very top of the building and Julia felt grateful to be home. Strange how she had only been in the place for a few days and was now referring to it as her permanent abode.

Opening the door, she stepped into the front hall and knew immediately something was wrong. She could not explain how she knew only that she relied upon this instinct with unquestioning faith because it had saved her life on more than occasion. Instead of retreating, she continued up the hallway, trying to imagine how anyone could break into a penthouse apartment, beside herself that is. Fortunately, she left nothing on the premises incriminating that could lead to any legal complications. After all her encounters with the ATF lately, Julia did not believe in taking chances with her freedom. She had a clean slate in the States and she intended her record to remain that way.

She had no sooner reached the mouth of the hallway when suddenly; she heard a sound she could not immediately identify. It was like an explosion of gases but it was not a gun. There was no time to ponder what it was because as soon as she felt it hit her leg, her question was more or less answered. The tranquilliser dart penetrated the fleshy part of her thigh, digging straight into her skin and seeping its poison into her blood.

"Damn!" She let out a small cry of pain as she felt the dart do its work.

Three men emerged from separate corners of her house. She started to become disorientated almost immediately, with a fog descending over her brain that robbed her of any ability to focus. They were dressed in black and converged upon her like a pack of dogs, about to tear their prey to pieces. As the first one reached her, Julia threw a flying kick in his face, knowing that she had to get out of here immediately. She had no idea who these men were but they obviously came prepared because they had chosen to drug her first, aware that she would never allow them to take her otherwise. The man staggered backwards but even she knew the delivery of the kick was sloppy and he would recover quickly. With anguish and a sudden burst of fear, Julia did the only thing she could.

She ran.

She did not even reach the door. One of the men slammed into her in a full body tackle that knocked her off her feet. Her head hit the marble floor hard and once again, she felt the same wave of nausea and disorientation as the drug started to take full effect.

"I’ve got her!" The one who was pinning her down cried out to his companions.

Their footsteps seemed to pound loudly in her head when they ran towards her. Julia blinked trying to concentrate but she could not commander her limber to cooperate. However, she had enough presence of mind to know that the one who had spoken was doing so in a French accent.

"Who the hell are you guys?" She demanded weakly as the amber trapping her limbs started to move to her brain.

"Interpol." One of them answered. "You are going to Paris for trial, La Renarde Rousse."

"Paris?" Julia gasped out loud because she helpless like this and could do nothing to stop them. "You can’t do this!" She shouted with whatever strength she had left and there was not much. "I haven’t done anything in this country! You’re kidnapping me!"

"By the time you are awake," the man looked at her with a triumphant smile as the black started to blanket everything around her. "It will not be a problem."

* * *

Ezra had found the card on the windshield of his Jaguar after he had left the ATF building, vowing never to return or at least, until Chris Larabee stopped talking to him with a gun in his hand. Ezra was still unable to believe what he had walked into in Chris’ office and wondered if he was ever going to live down the embarrassment of seeing Mary Travis and Chris Larabee in a such a truly compromising position.

_Well, at least they were not arguing any more._

Ezra decided to make a prudent departure after interrupting Chris and Mary who were well on their way to sorting their differences before his sudden arrival. The leader of Team 7 was in the filthiest mood in creation following his exchange with Mary and her subsequent departure in the face of what had happened between them. While Ezra had offered a wealth of apology, it did not change things and he came to the quick conclusion that the most sensible thing to do at this time was to make himself scarce.

Just when he thought the day could not get any worse; he saw Julia’s card under his windshield wiper, giving him the details of her new address. Even though he was still very annoyed by what she had done, Ezra could not blame her for wanting revenge; after all,  _he_  had set her up at the museum. Worst yet, he had done that after she had saved him from Bertenelli’s goons. Despite the situation she had ignited with Chris Larabee, Ezra was of the feeling that he was the one who behaved improperly.

Pulling up the Jaguar against the kerb, he was about to make his way towards the building when a man emerged carrying a rolled up carpet with two others in his company. Judging from their conversation as Ezra headed towards the front door, he gathered they were French. While his French was rusty and not well learned mostly because he and Mademoiselle Pascal, his tutor, were doing more than conjugating verbs during their lessons together. However, as they walked past, he heard them mention a word that froze him in his tracks and immediately halted his progress to the front door of the penthouse building.

_La Renarde Rousse_

Ezra continued to walk towards the doorway so as not to arouse suspicion, reaching into his cell phone as they rounded the corner, no doubt heading toward a vehicle parked in the parking lot. No sooner than they slipped out of sight, Ezra spun on his heels and ran towards his Jaguar once more. He climbed into the vehicle and started dialling, just as he saw a white van pull out of the visitor’s parking lot with one of the men he had seen earlier behind the wheel. Accustomed to tailing cars without being noticed, Ezra immediately revved up the engine of the British piece of engineering and began following it as it pulled out onto the main street.

"Tanner." The sharpshooter’s voice spoke through his cell phone.

"Mr Tanner," Ezra spoke quickly. "I need help. Someone is attempting to kidnap Julia Pemberton."

"And this is bad how?" Vin’s voice returned sarcastically. Ezra supposed he could not blame the man for his ambivalence, Julia had not made many friends at the ATF since coming into their lives, particularly after today.

"Vin," Ezra took a deep breath. "I think Interpol or some European law enforcement agency has come for her. They’re attempting to remove her from this country illegally. Unless extradition procedures have changed radically, I do not believe the process involves taking away the suspect disguised as a Persian rug. Please," Ezra made an impassioned plea to the sharpshooter with more emotion than he liked to reveal and hoped it was enough. "I cannot do this by myself. I require your assistance."

"You really like this girl don’t you?" Vin said after a momentary pause.

"Yes, I do." He confessed keeping the van in close sight as it took the turn onto the highway. "Enough to shoot someone in the posterior."

  
"Okay, first up," Vin started to grumble. "I didn't shoot you in the ass on purpose, it was a misfire and secondly, this ain't the way to get me to help you."

"Vin..." Ezra started to get exasperated.

"All right," the sharpshooter groaned reluctantly. "What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Once the van took the turnoff to the Anderson airfield, Ezra had a rough idea of what was happening. If the kidnappers intended taking Julia out of the country, they would not be able to utilise conventional air carriers that would require passengers to go through customs. She was being taken out of the country illegally which mean they must have had a private jet waiting at the airstrip.

  
By the time the van arrived at its destination, local police had surrounded the airfield and the jet was going nowhere. Vin Tanner had notified the FBI of the situation and the men, who refused to name from what agency they had been despatched, were soon taken into custody. For Vin’s help, Ezra promised  _never_  to mention the incident where he was shot in the rear ever again.

For saving Julia, they were finally even.

* * *

Julia opened her eyes, expecting to find herself in a French jail, instead ,she found herself in her bed.

She still felt a little groggy and as she sat up in the dim light of the room, she noticed that Ezra was lying beneath a blanket, on the sofa within the room, fast asleep. For a moment, she tried to understand what had happened. She remembered the men in her house and instinctively searched the place where the tranquilliser had hit, trying to make certain she had not dreamed everything, when she saw that tender flesh where the dart had penetrated her skin. Her confusion was rife but it was good to see Ezra nonetheless.

"Julia?" Ezra called out, roused from his sleep by her movements in bed. "Are you all right?" He asked, his face etched with concern.

"Yes," she nodded, still somewhat confused. "What happened?"

"I manage to stop those men from taking you out of the country," he said sitting up, keeping the blanket around himself because he was not so presumptuous to take advantage of the just because they had a history together. "They were Interpol."

"They said so," she remarked rubbing the bridge of her nose before her eyes met his. "Thank you Ezra. It would be unfortunate if they had taken me back to Europe."

"It was my pleasure." He smiled. "After saving my life, it was the least that I could do."

"Is that all?" Julia replied, disappointed if repaying a debt had been his only motivation.

"You know better than that." Ezra said softly, staring into her eyes so she could see just how much she meant to him, from the moment of their first meeting.

Julia smiled at him, comprehending his feelings completely because she felt the same before disappearing under the covers for a few seconds. Removing the nightdress she assumed he had put on her when he had brought her home, Julia dropped the flimsy piece of material to the carpeted floor and pulled the covers back in clear invitation for him to join her.

"Come on," she urged.

Ezra found himself grinning as he came forward and lowered himself next to her on the bed, feeling his body mould into place beside her like he was always meant to be there. He lowered his mouth towards hers in the first kiss he had given her and found that she responded immediately, her lips parting slightly as an invitation for his tongue to enter. Ezra took advantage of that offer most ardently, gently tasting her and savouring the sweetness of her lips before engaging her tongue in that most ancient dance of passion. Kissing her was everything that he remembered and as his mouth became more demanding, he moved himself on top of her soft body and felt a surge of arousal when she hooked a leg over his and began stroking his calf lightly.

Era’s hands cupped her face, delighting in the feel of her soft skin as he took charge of her mouth, darting his tongue in and out of the moist recess, sucking her lower lip past his and bombarding her with the richness of a truly sensual kiss. He could feel Julia pushing up against him with tightening need, her legs splayed out as he moved to a more comfortable position in between them. She ground her pelvis against his and sent a surge of fire straight into his groin as his cock started to harden with desire. Her hands move to his back, gliding up the smooth skin, coming to a halt at his briefs, before penetrating the waist band to explore the curved flesh beneath.

Ezra closed his eyes at the sensual movements of her palm against his skin that seemed to bring alive every nerve in his body. He pulled away from her mouth and looked into her emerald eyes, basking in the hunger he saw there. Ezra started kissing her neck, drawing a slow moan from her lips as he moved down the white skin, tracing a line of seduction down her collarbone and then to her cleavage. He looked at the round suppleness of her breasts, at the nipples that had contracted in a rosy colour that marked her arousal and smiled when he kissed the points gently and brought her hand immediately to his hair to urge him further.

Ezra licked one tight plateau and drew a soft cry of pleasure from her. His tongue tingled touching the erect point and felt another gush of sensation rushing to his cock. He could feel its effect shuddering through her body as he lowered his mouth to it and swirled the tip of his tongue against the rough flesh. Her body was arching against him, her thighs spreading wider until he could feel his hard length pressing into the soft heat between her legs. She was taunting him to make his do what she wanted but Ezra was not about to waste the moment. He continued to tease her with his tongue until she was beside herself.

"Please..." she uttered a frustrated whimper.

Hearing that plea broke his resolve. Ezra opened his mouth and took her nipple in one deep breath, sucking the node of flesh deep past his teeth and forcing a cry of pleasure to escape her as her hands began clawing at his back, through his hair, until she was completely his creature. His hand pulled hers away and he was able to pin them both above her head, arching her back and tightening the beautiful covering of flesh on her body. Without warning, he thrust his fingers between her legs and found his way inside her.

Julia was very wet and there was almost no resistance when he nudged past her folds and pressed the insides of her moist cavern with his finger. The surge of wet that came from that one gesture almost made him come undone. She bucked against him hard, impaling herself on his hand as the sensation ripped through her. Julia wanted to touch him but Ezra kept his grip around her hands and responded only by sucking her nipple deeper into his mouth in rhythm with his questing fingers.

"Oh god, Ezra." She started to groan as he worked on her relentlessly, determined to bring pleasure to her because he had waited so long for this moment. He could feel her becoming more wanton, just by the way her thighs were encircling his body, rubbing up and down and sensitising his skin to the point of madness. Ezra could not believe how hard she made him; he was starting to pant from the sheer need to bury himself deep within her.

"Julia," he whispered, lowering his mouth to her ear as the savage hunger started to overtake him. "I am going to  _fuck_  you until you scream." He said hoarsely.

"Oh god yes!" She groaned and arched harder against him only to have another digit forced inside her wetness, pressing against the moist walls within while his thumb found an even more sensitive spot and gently caressed the tiny pearl of flesh that forced her immediate surrender. She let out a soft cry as Ezra started massaging it, filling her with an aching need she could barely contain by the gasps she was uttering, until her body was one languid movement of sensuous flesh beneath him.

 _Oh dear god_ , Ezra though to himself feeling her heat as she rode his hand, her hips pushing back and forth, driving herself harder against his cock and then pulling back, performing sweet torture even though she had no idea she was doing it. He continued to lavish her breast with his mouth, while at the same time renewing his devastating manipulation of her erect centre with his fingers until she was so moist that he could hardly stand to be away from her for any longer. Although it was a monumental effort to do so, Ezra managed to keep from entering her there and then because he wanted her to be pleasured the way she had done to him at his apartment.

Ezra continued to tease the tiny nod of flesh, keeping her hands pinned while he nursed on her nipples and made her completely oblivious to everything but what he as doing to her. A fine sheen of perspiration had formed on her body, making the sensations all the more acute as he nibbled and sucked on the tips of her nipples until she was so mindless with pleasure that her eyes had clamped shut and her head thrown back against the pillow.

"Please Ezra," she opened her eyes suddenly and looked at him with nothing less than naked lust. "I want you inside me now. Please, I can’t wait...." she could not continue but her tone was clear enough. She enjoyed having someone else in control, that much he knew. For a woman so self assured, there was one thing in life where she wanted to be dominated and Ezra’s hunger was for her was such that he was happy to comply. He wanted to be brutal; he wanted to indulge in his utmost fantasies about her.

Giving her no warning, he withdrew and flipped her onto her stomach roughly. She glanced over her shoulder through a tangle of hair and almost uttered a scream when she felt him grab her hips and push his way into her, giving her no quarter for warning, that she needed it. He filled her so completely that Julia could do nothing but hold still as she felt the incredible sensation of his cock entering her brutally. She groaned and delighted in the sensation of every inch of him being driven into her. By the time he was all the way in, Julia was so aroused that she hardly knew where she was. His hand dug into her head and held cheek pressed against the pillow.

"Is that how you like it, my dear Julia?" He grunted as he started thrusting into her hard, his hand holding her hips against his as he ground his pelvis into her round derriere. He illustrated the point by slamming inside her so forcefully he felt an obstruction of flesh at the end of her passage and drew another cry from her.

"Yes!" She almost sobbed. "Oh please, don’t stop!"

Ezra had to bit down to maintain his control because he was never so out of control in his life. He wanted to plunder her body, to ravage it with a thousand pleasures as he began thrusting into her as hard as he could. Holding her head down with one hand as the other grabbed firm hold of her hip; he began pumping into her with hard, powerful strokes. Each time he felt the barrier at the end of her, she cried out in pain and pleasure, he could not say for sure, aware only that she begged him not to stop.

Ezra had never felt so aroused. His cock was so hard that it must surely be hurting her but when he even considered slowing down, he would hear her cry for him not to. Each whimper from those luscious lips, begging him not to stop had more power over him that all the sensation in the world. Later on, their lovemaking would be somewhat sedate in contrast to this experience but for now, they were both aware of what each other needed,  _had needed_  since they had first laid eyes upon each other. Ezra had never loved a woman as much as he loved Julia Pemberton and his need for her was like a fever.

He rode her hard; pumping her with such intense rhythm that all sense was being driven from him. There was nothing gentleman about this but he hardly cared. His body was covered in sweat and all he could feel was her nubile flesh preparing him for the most intense orgasm he had ever experienced in his life. The roar of pleasure began to fill his ears, with blooding rushing to his head as the pull in his groin became more intense and the ecstasy that was whispering at him, was becoming a scream that forced him to keep going. It came to a point when he no longer had any control left. The next thing he knew he was pulling her hips against him with both hands, impaling her with such relentless rhythm that she had thrown her head back and filled his eyes with a cloak of red against the alabaster skin of her back.

She was tensing with almost animal like lust, her body arching as her climax started coming over her. Julia was crying out with complete abandon, begging him to go faster and harder and in his efforts to comply, pushed her over the brink completely. She dropped her head violently, a cascade of auburn hair tossing about as she began her descent. Her muscles contracted in response and with that final tension strangled his cock with a parting gift of absolute pleasure that dragged him over the edge with her.

"Oh good Lord Julia!" He grunted out loud as he felt it explode out of him, filling his eyes with colour as he spurted his juices deep into her crevices, still pumping into her body as he felt himself drain completely. He kept pushing because his mind was not ready to let go of the ecstasy that had pleasured his body so spectacularly.

When he was finally done, he collapsed on top of her, feeling his sweat mingling with her own as they both lay in the tangle of sheets, breathing hard.

"Oh my god Agent Standish," she said out of breath. "Do they teach you this at the ATF?"

Ezra let out a soft chuckle through his exhaustion. "Yes," he nodded slowly. "Right after weapons training. The oral exams are the hardest."

"I look forward to seeing what else you learnt." She giggled as he covered the skin of her back in gentle kisses.

"Miss Pemberton," Ezra asked after a moment. "Do you think we will ever have a normal relationship?"

"What’s normal?" She looked at him through the mane of red hair over her shoulder. "Just be grateful I’m not kicking your ass any more." She teased.

"You turn a lovely phrase." He said sliding into a more comfortable position next to her.

"Mr Standish," she rolled onto her side so that she could look into his eyes. "I love you. Is that better?"

"Much," he replied and then added. "I have a feeling I am going to regret this, but I must say that I love you too." He smiled and leaned over to kiss her, once again becoming lost in the incredible sensation of her lips, thinking to himself that there worse things in life than catching a tiger by the tail.

You could also catch a fox.


End file.
